Mumbai: Stung by criticism that the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) has been slow in responding to consumer complaints, the authorities have decided to set up call centres in the state — and the first one will come up in Pune soon.

The idea is to ensure total accountability by officials by ensuring that complaints are recorded efficiently and redressal is done speedily, according to MSEB’s newly appointed technical director Avinash B Shethji. Maharashtra will be the only state after Andhra Pradesh to introduce the concept of call centres.

Participating in the CEO Power Breakfast forum initiated by Capital Images PR (CIPR), Shethji, who has been the board’s chief engineer of the Pune zone, admitted that the existing system of recording public grievances was not successful due to various reasons, including attitude problems on part of certain untrained employees.

He expressed the hope that the call centres would go a long way in ensuring total accountability by officials — a suggestion that was made during the churning of ideas at the CIPR Power Breakfast, organised in association with Holiday Inn, Pune.

He said the energy audit system introduced by the MSEB in Pune was quite successful and the replacement of over 55,000 meters (with efficient meters) resulted in reducing losses. He stressed the need for a will to improve the organisation.

On a frequent suggestion whether ‘islanding’ of Pune, on the lines of Mumbai, is feasible, he said the idea is preposterous. “Pune, unlike Mumbai, does not have its own generating system, where as Tata Power could take care of Mumbai in case the MSEB supply trips.”

Shethji pointed out that most of the 2.3 million farmers using electricity for their inefficient motors also contributed to the losses by the board.

Earlier, Shantanu Dixit of the Pune-based NGO Prayas, made a presentation to the forum on ‘Power Crisis - Where do we go from here?’ He emphasised the need for TAP (transparency, accountability and public participation). Prayas has designed a web-based system to ensure transparency in the power sector.

CIPR senior vice-president Deepak M Shah in his introductory remarks pointed out that the MSEB suffers transmission and distribution losses amounting to Rs 2,500 crore a year. “The government’s capital expenditure of Rs 700 crore on education and health can considerably be improved if the T&D losses could be contained.”

CIPR media head B N Kumar pointed out that the Power Breakfast forum’s popularity is on the rise and that the CEO forum will also work on improving traffic discipline in Pune. “A public education programme is being worked out in association with Holiday Inn, Pune, on the issue.”

About 35 CEOs from a cross-section of the corporate sector attended the Power Breakfast session.