CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: Mounting public anger over alleged billing irregularities and procedural lapses has brought the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited's (MePDCL) franchise model in Mawsynram under sharp civil society scrutiny, with local legislator Ollan Singh Suin assuring that he will take up with the power utility the demand for the board itself to resume revenue collection in the subdivision to restore consumer confidence. The assurance came amid sustained resistance to MePDCL's decision to hand over the Mawsynram electrical sub-division to private franchisee Sai Computer Ltd., effective November 1, a move that has triggered protests from village bodies and pressure groups citing a lack of transparency, exorbitant bills and violations of local norms.
Speaking after meeting with civil society organisations, Suin said, "Today we held a meeting with NGOs including the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) and Hynniewtrep National Youth Front on the demand that Sai Computer Ltd., which was franchised by MePDCL for the Mawsynram subdivision, should be scrapped. We also held a meeting with the association representing the conglomeration of Sanjuk ki Durbar Shnong Mawsynram on January 21 on the same issue." The legislator from the Mawsynram constituency said.
Suin traced the controversy to MePDCL's earlier decision to franchise revenue collection to Feedback Energy Distribution Company Limited (FEDCO), which, he said, accumulated liabilities exceeding Rs 30 crore payable to the board, forcing MePDCL to scrap the contract and retender the franchise. "MePDCL had earlier franchised FEDCO for revenue collection in the Mawsynram subdivision, but due to pending liabilities of more than Rs 30 crore payable to the board, MePDCL scrapped the contract and retendered the franchise. After retendering, Sai Computer Ltd. was the only company to submit a bid, and the franchise was allotted to it," he said.
However, the transition to Sai Computer Ltd. has been anything but smooth. According to Suin, public outrage erupted soon after the company began operations. "After Sai Computer Ltd. received the award for revenue collection in the Mawsynram sub-division, there was a major uproar among the public and consumers. This was because the company did not obtain a no-objection certificate from the concerned Rangbah Shnong to run its office and operated without permission from the Dorbar Shnong Mawsynram. It also failed to obtain a trading licence, and the billing was unusually high," he said.
He further alleged serious discrepancies in billing practices. "When the bills were issued, they were unexpected and exorbitant, and in many cases the units consumed were not mentioned. Sometimes, the bills were issued without specifying the units at all," he said, adding that consumers who earlier paid around Rs 200 were now being charged Rs 700-800.
Emphasizing that rectifying such anomalies was the franchisee's responsibility, Suin said, "These discrepancies are not for me to rectify. It is the duty of the franchise company to address these issues." He added that the billing system remained unsatisfactory and required urgent intervention. "The billing system is unsatisfactory and needs to be examined. I have discussed these discrepancies with the NGOs as well as the board, and based on the demands of the NGOs and the conglomeration of headmen from the Mawsynram constituency, I have raised the issue with MePDCL to examine the terms of the agreement in the tender process and the MoU signed between the board and the franchise company."
Pitching for a rollback of the franchise arrangement, Suin made a direct appeal to the authorities. "I request the government and MePDCL to take back revenue collection for the Mawsynram sub-division themselves to restore confidence and provide satisfaction to the consumers of the area."
The latest flare-up follows MePDCL's decision to terminate its nearly decade-long association with FEDCO, which had managed the Mawsynram sub-division for close to seven years.
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