Chennai: To speed up new electricity connections and redress of consumer complaints, Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) has launched a mobile phone application-based functionality. It integrates the new service connection process for low-tension services with the geographic information system (GIS) and enterprise resource planning system (ERP). Under the new system, the assistant engineer of an area will get the application details on his mobile phone. He can directly assign the application to the commercial assistant and inspector to carry out the field study. The officers, in turn, can update the form with materials required and generate the estimate on the spot. This process will reduce the time taken to process applications, officials said. “So far, entries from the engineers were manually fed into the system. As there was no integration between ERP and the new application process, multiple estimates were generated for the same application. This won’t happen anymore. Also, meters can no longer be delayed, as the service number will be allotted only after meters are fixed,” said TNPDCL chief engineer (information technology) Niraimathi. GIS mapping of all TNPDCL assets, right from substations to transformers, poles to meters at consumer premises, which started in 2022, has now been extended to the new service connection process to ensure that new assets created for fresh service connections are mapped at the start. The project was implemented on a pilot basis in the Madurai and Tirunelveli region and will be extended to the rest of the State from March. In the first phase, all low-tension services except group-housing applications will be covered in the scheme, and it will be expanded later to high-tension services, utility shifting works, and turnkey projects, said TNPDCL director A Selvakumar.
