The term power politics assumes another meaning vis-a-vis the issue of corruption in electricity services in the different states of India.
Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab were the best performers according to scores assigned by Crisil and Icra to respective state electricity departments. Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala, Assam and Madhya Pradesh were medium performers while the worst performers were Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Surat which are served by private sector utilities have been clubbed together.
Consumers’ Woes
1. More than half (58%) of the respondents visited the department for at least 3 times in last one year. Of these, 36% had visited the department for paying bills. Overall, 61% of the respondents visited the department for payment of bills.
2. Reasons for visit
The major reason for visit was bill-related, including excess and non-receipt of bill. Other reasons were meter-related including meter not working, incorrect meter-reading, installation and replacement of defective meters. People also visited electricity departments over connection-related issues as well as over supply of electricity.
3. Quality of Service received and difficulties faced
Overall, 41% of those who had interacted with the Department regarded the service of the department as poor, while 32% are happy with the services.
Even in case of private utilities only 38% of the households are happy with the services. In case of Mumbai, more than half (54%) of the households interacting with the Department are happy with the services.
4. Services for which bribes are paid for
27% of the respondents who had claimed to pay bribes paid for correcting the bill. 26 % had paid bribe for a new connection.
Bribing: the modus operandi
More then one-third (35%) of the respondents claiming to pay bribe had paid money to Linesman (51% in case of south). While one-fourth (25%) had paid money to agents/ touts like documentations centers, electricity contractors, etc., 20% had paid money directly to billing employees (36% in case of North).
Who gets the bribe?
There is a variation between points of corruption between better-rated states and poorly-rated states. While the percentage of respondents claiming to pay bribe directly to the officers is comparatively lower (19%) in better rated states, the percentage of respondents giving bribes to meter readers in these states is higher.
What is the going rate?
The average amount of bribe paid to the department was estimated to be Rs1010 (Rs841 for urban households, and Rs1089 for rural households).
There was variation in the amount of bribe paid depending upon the nature of work as well. On an average, the rate of bribe for a new connection was Rs1171 while the average bribe paid for repairing service was Rs286. The value of petty corruption in Electricity Services in India totals Rs2,169 crore per annum.