Chennai: Power consumers were facing inordinate delay in availing of three-phase domestic and commercial service connections due to the confusion among Tamil Nadu generation and distribution corporation (TangÂedco) engineers over the sanctioning authÂority.
According to Tangedco sources, the confusion over the sanctÂioning authority started when TangÂedco made some chanÂges to delegation of powers of sanction to officers through an order dated June 29, 2011.
Before the changes in the delegation of power, assistant engineers at the local level itselt sanctioned new three-phase domestic or commercial service connections, sources added.
“Even though no specific changes were made in the power to sanction of three-phase domestic connections, some assistant executive engineers started to claim that only they had the authority to sanction. It had led to a lot of confusion and resulted in delay in effecting three-phase service connections in many areas,” said C. Selveraj, a retired TNEB engineer.
He added that assistant engineers have power to sanction new three-phase connections if it does not exceed certain wattage capacity.
Following the confusion, chief engineer of Coimbatore region of Tangedco wrote a letter to the headquarters in March this year requesting them to issue necessary orders to restore the powers delegated to the assistant engineers in respect of service connection sanction to domestic/commercial service connection.
Tangedco’s commercial wing chief engineer clarified through a note to all the chief engineers dated November 5 this year that the powers of sanction delegated to assistant engineers has not been modified or deleted in the revised delegation of powers of sanction made in June 2011.
