Thiruvananthapuram: The Electricity Regulatory Commission, while approving a tariff hike in April after three years, said it was done to offset a loss of Rs 4,000-crore the public utility had suffered during 2011-12 and 2012-13. Figures show that on March 31, 2017, the public utility has not been able to collect Rs 2,121.68 crore from its consumers, which is more than half the losses that had prompted the ERC to up the tariffs.
Kerala Water Authority is the biggest defaulter with unpaid dues of Rs 1,008 crore. Private companies have unpaid arrears of rs 588 crore, and public sector utilities Rs 255.22 crore. The unpaid dues of domestic consumers worked out to Rs 68.81 crore. “More than 70 percent of the total accumulated arrears are related to HT and EHT consumers,” a top KSEB source said. The figure put out by KSEB Limited shows the total liabilities of top industrial houses alone as Rs 476.13 crore. Rs 372 crore is tied up in legal cases.
Raising invoices and monitoring of revenue collection of HT-EHT consumers are being done at Corporate Office under Special Officer (Revenue). Presently, Special Officer (Revenue) is under the direct control of the Chief Engineer (Commercial & Tariff).
The Chief Engineer has limitations and difficulties in tackling all the issues raised by the Special Officer (Revenue). Further, there are issues related to the implementation of the HT-EHT billing software. “Hence, in order to give proper directions and also for coordinating the various issues related to HT and EHT consumers, Special Officer (Revenue) will be brought under the control of a senior engineer in the rank of a deputy chief engineer,” a top KSEBL source said.
A Task Force was first set up in 2010 to recover arrears but its performance was impeded by a number of factors. There was delay in getting information of arrears of LT consumers from field offices. There was also lack of enthusiasm and commitment on the part of the task force on collection of arrears, especially when it came to disconnection of defaulters. The biggest hurdle, the source said, was the absence of proper database on arrears.
