People complain over not receiving power cut alerts

The Discoms send SMS alerts only for scheduled power cuts and do not send alerts about unscheduled power cuts causing a lot of hardship to the people of the State, especially in the Greater Hyderabad region, which is witnessing frequent power outages in the last few days.

Hyderabad: The messages sent to alert the public over power supply outages by Discoms in the State is not a new initiative. However, of late the well-established system has taken a backseat causing concern to power customers.

The Discoms send SMS alerts only for scheduled power cuts and do not send alerts about unscheduled power cuts causing a lot of hardship to the people of the State, especially in the Greater Hyderabad region, which is witnessing frequent power outages in the last few days.

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Already power cuts are taking place in the wake of ongoing maintenance works being carried out by the TSSPDCL in the Greater Hyderabad limits and with unscheduled power cuts continuing in many parts of the city, people are facing a lot of problems.

People argue that SMS messages about unscheduled power cuts would help them in planning works and to make alternative arrangements, especially while organising functions and programmes. A large number of people are complaining that they are not getting alerts on power outages on their registered mobile phones.

They claim that they were receiving power bills on registered mobile phones but were not getting information about power cuts causing problems for them.

According to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, even in case of unplanned outages, it is the duty of the distribution licensee to communicate immediately to the consumers about the outage and the estimated time to restore it and in accordance with the rules, Discoms are obliged to monitor and restore outages.

The power officials informed that the Discoms send the location and disruption data to Urja Mitra – a project initiated by the union Ministry of Power and it sends the SMS to customers in advance if there are scheduled maintenance works. In the case of unscheduled disruptions, customers are notified about the issue and the time it will take for the company to rectify it.

According to officials, those who are not getting SMS alerts can visit the tssouthernpower.com website and link their phone number.