City consumers struggle to pay power bills amid link failures
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Ranchi: Consumers are struggling to pay electricity bills due to frequent link failures across any time payment (ATP) machines. This comes at a time when the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) has identified 36,000 in Ranchi circle with dues.
Of these, 600 have received warning.
A total of 26 ATP machines faced technical issues, especially due to link failures, in the past three days. Consumers attempting to make bill payments reported repeated system breakdowns, resulting in long queues, arguments.
A resident of Lalpur, Veena Kumari, said, "It's taking 5 to 7 minutes to pay a bill. Sometimes, the link fails when payment processing starts. Money gets deducted from our account but is not deposited in the JBVNL account."
Earlier, the billing process was through a system developed by the HCL. The power department transitioned to a new platform, named 'Future Grid'.
Electrical superintendent engineer D N Sahu said, "We have received complaints regarding link failures and software leakage. These will be investigated."
The general manager of JBVNL (IT department), Dhananjay Kumar, said, "We found out three days ago that the link was down and addressed the problem."
A total of 3.10 lakh smart meters have been installed across the city. Out of these, 2.80 lakh are functional in prepaid mode. People claim that though smart meters are connected to mobile apps allowing real-time billing, consumers have to visit payment centres. Many also reported disproportionate increase in billing amounts.
A resident of Ratu, Anup Chatterjee, said, "Earlier, my bill used to be around Rs 1,500. Now, it touches Rs 4,000.
There's no transparency and no one is listening. And when we go to pay, the system is down."
While urban consumers are caught in a cycle of failed transactions and rising bills, rural areas have not been receiving bills, sometimes for months. Rina Devi of Rajaulatu, said, "We received the last electricity bill in November last year. The JBVNL officials tell us to contact our block office. We keep on running from pillar to post."
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