He gives power to people, literally

Paul John   TNN

Ahmedabad: He brings forth shocking truths about the four state-owned power companies using Right to Information (RTI) Act and stops them from squandering taxpayers’ money. Today, if your electricity company charges you Rs 100 to Rs 750 less as late fee, you should thank KK Bajaj, 72.

Bajaj is the most feared by

the electricity companies in the state. Having spent 35 years in the power sector working for private companies, Bajaj diligently files RTI applications to monitor transmission and distribution losses (T&D), monitoring metering of electricity connections and the number of electrocutions of humans and animals caused by high tension wires. Today, he is trying to expose alleged financial irregularities and squandering of taxpayer’s money by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL).

In a case of late fee charges, Bajaj says, “The state electricity Act gives a customer 10 days grace period and another 15 days notice period for paying up the bill. One needs to just pay 0.5% interest for being a day late. It is only after the 25 days that companies are supposed to charge you re-connection charges which is anywhere between Rs 100 for residential, Rs 200 for commercial and Rs 750 for industrial connections. I asked all the four power companies as to how much re-connection charges were collected and also demanded the dates of collection. The truth came out.”

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) ordered all the four power companies to pay back Rs 7.2 crore to the customers.

Bajaj has been concerned about the safety of high tension wires too. “Every year, more than 400 humans and 600 animals die because of electrocution. A wire should go dead the moment it breaks away from the main line. Officials tell me wire tapping may be a cause, but what about animal deaths? Do animals tap electricity? My RTI revealed that vegetation growing around transformers invite animals that cause deaths. The compensation given to families for fatalities is a mere Rs 10,000. I will soon file a PIL in this issue,” says Bajaj.

He adds, “Every year crores of taxpayers’ money is lost due to distribution losses. Only 30% users have metered connections while 70% still pay much less. Many farmers have between five and 10 horsepower pump connections but operate 40-50 horsepower pumps. Metered connections just increase by a mere 3% every year.”