Effect of Guarantee scheme: Bill collectors scared to visit houses

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: After assaults, abuses, and threats, several bill collectors of ESCOMS have refused to visit their given areas to read electricity meters and serve the monthly bills following the ‘No pay’ campaign launched by people citing the proposed 200 units free power scheme announced by the Congress party in its election manifesto.

The bill collectors met up with their senior officers and poured out their woes while going to houses to read meters and issue power bills to consumers. Several bill collectors have been manhandled especially in slum areas, lower-income group houses and villages.

Despite telling them that the newly-formed Congress government has not issued any orders to this effect , people are not impressed with many of them asking the bill collectors to hand over the electricity bills to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K.Shivakumar who promised 200 units free power to every household in Karnataka. This has become a big headache for all ESCOMS as a majority of domestic consumers have declined to clear the dues.

Close on the heels of several incidents, junior engineers and executive engineers of ESCOMS have asked the bill collectors to have patience while talking to consumers and explain to them that 200 units would be free only after the incumbent government issues orders in this regard. In case some people act violently against the staff, they have been asked to go to the nearest police station to take the help of the cops to read the meters and issue electricity bills to domestic consumers.  

As a precaution, the bill collectors have been asked to go in groups and not alone to prevent physical assaults on them. The bill collectors of all ESCOMS have threatened to stop their work of meter reading and issuing the bills if the state government fails to convince people to wait till the modalities are worked out before launching the scheme.