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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
An Assessment of
BESCOM Services
K. Prabhakar
Meena Nair
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
ISBN: 978-81-88816-28-6
Some rights reserved. Content in this publication can be freely shared, distributed, or
adapted. However, any work, adapted or otherwise, derived from this publication must
be attributed to Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore. This work may not be used for
commercial purposes.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Contents
Foreword 9
Preface 11
Executive Summary 13
Chapter 1: Introduction 19
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
List of Tables
Table1.1: Sample size for survey 22
Table1.2: Proportionate allocation of BESCOM offices at the Zonal level 22
Table1.3: Proportionate allocation at Sub-Divisions & O&M office level 23
Table 2.1 - Profile of users across Zones – selected features 25
Table 2.2 - Usage of electrical appliances across Circles & Zones
(Values in %) 26
Table 2.3 - Usage of different types of electrical bulbs 27
Table 2.4: Average yearly maintenance for coping mechanisms (Rs.) 27
Table 2.5: Approach to BESCOM to get a connection across Circles
and Zones (%) 29
Table 2.6: Power cuts across Circles and Zones (%) 32
Table 2.7: Mode of payment of electricity bills across Circles and Zones (%) 34
Table 2.8: Type of problems across Zones (%) 35
Table 2.9: Satisfaction with quality of service across Circles and Zones (%)
Table 2.10: Reasons for dissatisfaction & Suggestions for Improvements 40
Table 2.11: Improvements observed 41
Table 3.1: Composition of interviewed staff 44
Table3.2: Average number of consumers served 44
Table3.3: Reasons for not effectively discharging duties (multiple responses) 46
Table3.4: Details of safety tools received by BESCOM staff 47
Table 3.5: Suggestions to reduce peak load in peak hours
(multiple responses received) 50
Table 3.7 Required staff by levels across Circles & Zones 57
Table 3.6: Reasons for dissatisfaction & Suggestions for Improvements 60
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
List of Charts
Chart 2.1 – Type of energy meters (%) 28
Chart 2.2 Receipt received for amount paid (%) 29
Chart 2.3: Ease of getting connection across Circles & Zones (%) 31
Chart 2.4 : Efficiency of BESCOM staff (%) 36
Chart 2.5 : Satisfaction with different aspects of responsiveness of staff (%) 37
Chart 2.6 : Problem Incidence & Problem Resolution across Circles
and Zones 38
Chart 2.7 : Overall satifaction across Circles and Zones (%) 40
Chart 2.8: Advertisements regarding power savings (%) 42
Chart 3.1: Average hours of work in a day (%) 46
Chart 3.2: Proportion of respondents rating excellent/good
support from officers (%) 51
Chart 3.3: Approval of sanction after submission of application (%) 54
Chart 3.4: Proportion of respondents issuing acknowledgement
to complainants 55
Chart 3.5 : Overall satifaction across Circles and Zones 57
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to many individuals and organizations that helped us to complete this
study successfully. We take this opportunity to place on record our gratitude to them,
especially the following:
w Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Government of Karnataka for funding the
study.
w The Managing Director of BESCOM, Sri. P. Manivannan, IAS, and the core team
of BESCOM comprising Sri. L. Ravi (GM–Corporate Affairs, Corporate Office),
Smt. Jayanthi N. (GM–Customer Relations, Corporate Office), Sri James Philip
(DGM–2, Corporate Affairs), Sri Bhanu Prakash (AGM–Customer Relations,
Corporate Office) and Sri. Asha Kotian (AE–Customer Relations, Corporate Office)
for their valuable guidance to the PAC–PGRG Study Team at different stages of the
study.
w The AEE/AE and staff of the Sub-division and O&M offices of Anekal town, Jigani
and Gauribidanur offices for cooperating with us and providing valuable inputs at
the preparatory stage of our study, that shaped our data collection instruments.
w Our field work partner-organizations that helped us in our previous field assignments
as well – Mr.Udayakumar and his team, Bangalore and SAMANVAYA, Shimoga,
for carrying out the field survey successfully and Mr. Gnaneshwar S., Bangalore for
carrying out the data entry.
w The 600 BESCOM staff personnel who shared their experiences and viewpoints
with us and other high-level officers who provided support to our field teams to help
the Sub-division and O&M offices share their records and documents with us.
w All the 2000 users who gave their time and shared their experiences with us thus
providing us with information that helped us to assess the quality of service delivery
provided by BESCOM.
w The founder of Public Affairs Centre, Dr. Samuel Paul for his constant support and
guidance throughout the study; our Director Mr. R. Suresh, for his suggestions on the
draft report and Mr. Gurudatt Hegde who volunteered for this study, especially for
helping us in the Kannada translation, field monitoring and drafting of some chapters.
w Our colleagues Ms. Prarthana Rao and Dr. Sreedharan for their support during
the study period.
While we are indebted to the individuals mentioned above for their contribution, we the
authors are solely responsible for the opinions expressed herein and errors, if any.
Dr. K. Prabhakar
Dr. Meena Nair
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Foreword
It is a surprising fact that public institutions that serve the public do not have any
mechanism to get feedback from the public! It would mean that course correction
hardly takes place in public institutions, leaving the steering in the hands of temporarily
elected leaders or with a bureaucrat, who is generally disengaged with the public
perception.
In fact, if all public institutions have a feedback mechanism which can aid the process
of course correction, then, they will be much more efficient and relevant than what
they are now. It is in this background, the ‘report-card’ approach of Public Affairs
Centre, assumes significance. Indeed, such ‘report cards’ are a must, at least once in
three years, if not every year.
BESCOM learnt a lot from this report card and it is now helping us in course correction.
The next report card on BESCOM will stand as a proof of the contribution of the
report card in making BESCOM more efficient and relevant to its consumers.
I thank PAC and the BESCOM team, led by Ms. Jayanthi, GM–CR for undertaking
this meaningful work.
July 2013 P. Manivannan
MD, BESCOM
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Preface
BESCOM deserves to be commended for seeking feedback from its users and staff
on its policies and services, using the “report card” approach of Public Affairs Centre
(PAC). It is equally encouraging that its management plans to use the findings of this
study to take corrective steps and improve its services and responsiveness to users.
There are very few public service providers who take the initiative to assess their
performance taking into account a citizen’s perspective. The Citizen Report Card
(CRC) approach that we have used in this study has gathered information from both
the users and the staff of BESCOM to ensure that a balanced assessment is presented
for BESCOM to take action. We hope that this study will encourage and motivate
many other service providers and departments of government to initiate and make
use of similar exercises on a periodic basis.
The findings of this study can also be used to inform and educate both citizens and
the staff of public organisations. When the report is made public or the media
comments on the findings and the corrective actions taken, the public at large and
the staff of the agency will be able to develop confidence in what the management
plans to do about their problems. When such audits are repeated, people will also
be able to give the organisation feedback on how well its reforms are working.
Ministers, principal secretaries, regulators and civic groups will thus gain a much
better understanding of the “state of our public services” through the adoption of
this approach.
At PAC, this project was led by a team consisting of Dr. Meena Nair and Dr. K.
Prabhakar. They were assisted by Ms. Prarthana Rao and Mr. Gurudatt Hegde. We
are grateful to them for the timely completion of this project and the final report.
Above all, we thank Mr. Manivannan, MD, BESCOM for entrusting this project to
PAC.
July 2013 R. Suresh
Director, Public Affairs Centre
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Executive Summary
This report summarizes the findings of the study “Assessment of BESCOM Services”
undertaken by Public Affairs Centre at the request of the Bangalore Electricity Supply
Company (BESCOM), Government of Karnataka.
The objectives of this study were:
1. To systematically assess the quality, responsiveness and outcomes of basic
services provided by sub-divisional and section/unit offices to the public;
2. To generate a better understanding of problems and constraints being faced
by the BESCOM staff in their role as service provider to the community, and
3. To assist BESCOM to use the information and knowledge generated through
the study so that actionable policies and remedies can be formulated.
The scope of the study was limited to the services of sub-divisional and section/unit
offices (among the various levels of BESCOM offices), as they are focal points for
providing assistance to citizens for better service delivery and redress of their grievances.
The study also limited itself to household users of BESCOM services and not
commercial and industrial establishments, which requires a different sampling and
questionnaire design and can be taken up by PAC, if required, by BESCOM.
The methodology of this study was as follows:
1. The Research Design that comprised,
a. Preparatory activities that included drawing up a core team comprising top
officials from BESCOM and senior advisors from PAC who provided guidance
and support, literature review, preliminary field visits and observations and
preliminary meetings between BESCOM and PAC;
b. Data collection instruments that included interview schedules for BESCOM
personnel and interview schedules for users;
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
c. Sampling design that covered all the eight Circles and three Zones represented
through randomly selected 100 Sub-divisions and O&M offices. Six BESCOM
staff personnel working at various levels and 20 users were randomly selected
from every selected Sub-division and O&M office bringing the total sample
size to 600 BESCOM staff personnel interviews and 2000 user interviews.
2. The Field Design that included,
a. The field work that was carried out by a survey organization/NGO partner
appointed and supervised by PAC;
b. Two-day comprehensive training programmes conducted in Bangalore (29-30
November 2012) and Shimoga (3-4 December 2012). The training programme
involved briefing on the data collection instruments, mock call exercises and
pilot field visits, and
c. Quality monitoring during the course of field work – PAC research team
consistently monitored the field work through field visits and carried out
spot checks and back checks and on-site scrutiny of filled-in questionnaires.
The team supervisors also kept in contact with the PAC team for updates on
a daily basis. Another round of random scrutiny was carried out once the
questionnaires were received at PAC before data entry.
3. Data Analysis and Interpretation that included,
a. Data entry for the 2,600 interviews, carried out by a professional agency based
at Bangalore. The reliability of estimate presented in this report is significant
at 95 percent confidence level. The margin of error is +/–2.7 percent;
b. Presentation of the findings from the study to senior officials of BESCOM on
27 March 2013. The presentation was followed by a brief discussion among
the officials and feedback was given by the MD, BESCOM, Mr. Manivannan
on the findings and also the immediate actions that can be initiated in response
to some of the findings, and
c. Preparation of the report elaborating the findings with policy conclusions
and submitted to BESCOM subsequently.
The study was completed in six months and the findings were presented to BESCOM.
The table below presents the salient positive findings in brief about BESCOM (based
on the feedback from both users and the staff).
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
The other major detailed findings and policy conclusions are summarized below:
1. Getting a connection: Our findings show that only less than one-fourth (24 percent)
of the users interacted directly with the BESCOM office to get a new connection,
while more than three-fourths (76 percent) approached the intermediary/
middleman/a third party to get a new connection which led to an extra monetary
burden on consumers. This reflects the need to take necessary action to either
reduce or remove involvement of middlemen for getting a connection by simplifying
the application process (40 percent reported that the application process is difficult),
and using new technology (applying online).
2. Low awareness levels regarding power saving: More than half the number of users
said that they are using at least two incandescent bulbs (which consume more
power) even though there have been campaigns and awareness programmes to stop
using them. Renewed efforts need to be made to increase awareness of using power-
saving devices, thus bringing down electricity consumption and costs.
3. Forced expenditure to maintain coping mechanisms: To cope with power cuts and
voltage fluctuations, almost half the number of consumers (47 percent) interviewed
are using coping strategies to support electrical appliances, which have led to forced
expenditure to maintain these peripherals even though they are paying money to
get uninterrupted and quality power supply.
4. Existence of corruption: During the course of getting a connection, one-fifth (20
percent) of the users have not received any receipt while 11 percent received receipts
for partial amount paid. This clearly shows the existence of an unaccountable money-
taking practice from consumers, which is reflected in the low levels of satisfaction
ratings by those consumers. The existence of this pattern of external corruption has
also been agreed to by the BESCOM personnel, albeit an under-reported 14 percent
of the staff.
5. Problem incidence and resolution: Almost one-third (31 percent) had a problem
with some aspects of BESCOM’s service delivery, However, except BMAZ Zone,
less than half the number of users elsewhere
Lack of availability of
contacted BESCOM office to get their problems information with staff and time
resolved, of those almost three-fourth (71 percent) taken to attend to problem are
got their problems resolved. High problems were matters of concern among those
reported in Kolar and Tumkur Circles with latter who visited the BESCOM offices.
reporting low problem resolution. In spite of
problems, there is less frequency of complaint lodging due to lack of awareness and
use of informal channels.
6. Poor awareness regarding BESCOM’s information channels: Abysmal awareness
levels of BESCOM’s information channels such as their information booklet (5
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
percent), Customer Interaction Meetings (0.2 percent), and BESCOM website (0.4
percent) indicate low levels of efforts towards information dissemination by
BESCOM for its consumers. All-out efforts need to be made to showcase the
department as user-friendly and being accountable to its consumers.
7. Work overload and multi-tasking: On average, each sub-division addresses 83,068
consumers and each O&M addresses 39,305 consumers. As of now, at all levels
there is a shortage (27 percent) of working strength as against sanctioned strength
and this gap is highest among the ALM/LJM (39 percent) and lineman (29 percent)
cadres.
With an insufficient workforce, additional burden is put on the current working
staff who are reportedly working near-round-the-clock (17-24 hours) conditions,
especially in Tumkur, Davangere, Bangalore Rural
and Kolar Circles. On the whole, each office Work overload seems to be the
single biggest issue with
requires a minimum of 13 persons at all levels to
BESCOM staff personnel. This is
meet consumer expectations for better service further aggravated by the failure
delivery. Mix of duties including maintenance to fill sanctioned posts.
of lines (75 percent), addressing consumer
grievances (56 percent), revenue collection (51 percent), action for prevention of
theft (43 percent), receiving of applications (32 percent) and meter readings (22
percent) indicate major multi-tasking as part of the work culture.
To meet BESCOM guidelines for consumer grievances, more than half (55 percent)
of those interviewed reported that, with current office strength, they are not able to
manage all deliverables, needing not only more people but also quality material for
better service delivery. There is clear evidence that work overload, gaps in sanctioned
and working staff, lack of adequate materials, and low quality materials contribute
to the problems highlighted by the users. It could well be that these problems are
more severe in some regions than others.
8. Support and loyalty among BESCOM personnel: Among the staff, there are both
positive and negative reflections. Most of the staff got their weekly holidays whenever
required.
Timely supply of safety tools and the quality of these tools were found to be good
among those who required them. But in each office only 44 percent of the staff
received safety tools while the rest are yet to receive them. About 60 percent received
the walkie-talkie, of them three-fourths received training in how to use them. Most
of the staff members attended different training programmes and felt that these
programmes were useful. Appreciation was received by one-third (33 percent) for
work done so far; this is an area that could see improvement. Most of the staff
members interviewed also reported getting good support from their superior officers
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
and gives them more enthusiasm to work in the department. However, influence
from outside sources does seem to have affected their work as it has often been a
hindrance to their routine work.
This study clearly showed very low levels of awareness about funds received by each
office for various purposes, pointing towards a need to make efforts to make the
staff more knowledgeable about reforms, policy changes with action taken messages.
Around two-thirds (60 percent) of the staff interviewed said that they have observed
some positive changes over the past three years within the department in terms of
improvement in giving good service to the public (29 percent), improvement in
revenue collection (17 percent), regular power supply (12 percent), providing vehicles
(12 percent), providing safety material (10 percent), improvement in poles/lines/
cables (9 percent), getting the required quality material and improvement in supply
of transformers (8 percent).
An encouraging finding is the high levels of trust and satisfaction shown by staff
with the department, which opens the door to improve efficiency and productiveness
of the staff with their support. This is an asset on which the department can build,
in order to achieve better performance. That such high level of loyalty and trust has
been displayed or conveyed by the staff is commendable as their work-related
problems as discussed elsewhere are not insignificant.
9. Satisfaction contrasts between users and personnel: One of the interesting findings
of the study is the contrast between the satisfaction levels indicated by BESCOM
staff as opposed to the satisfaction levels of the users. While only 52 percent of the
users have indicated complete satisfaction with their interaction with the department,
the satisfaction of the staff with their performance is much higher (94 percent). It is
important to understand that the assessment of the users reflects their experience
with the services they obtain at the Sub-division or O&M offices and since BESCOM
is a service delivery entity, it needs to find ways to improve consumer satisfaction
and not take comfort in the reported high levels of satisfaction mentioned by the
staff.
10. Wide regional variations: There are wide regional variations on various aspects of
service delivery across the Zones. It would be good to target those weak areas in the
system in each of the Zones. Some of them include – the CTAZ Zone especially
reflects the highest proportion of problem from the respondents – more power
cuts, unscheduled power cuts, difficulty in getting a connection, lack of immediate
response. Since Circles and Zones vary in their socio-economic conditions and
levels of development, there is a need to pay greater attention to the quality of
management, supervision, and the types of training being provided in the Circles
and the Zones.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Introduction
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
and reliability of electricity supply, problems associated with electricity supply, resolution
of problems, satisfaction regarding service delivery and suggestions for improvement,
while the survey of BESCOM personnel concentrated on job aspects, support from
department and community, responsiveness, efficiency, corruption, satisfaction and
suggestions for improvement. The survey was conducted in all the three zones of
BESCOM in order to understand the quality of services comprehensively.
Public Affairs Centre (PAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the cause of
improving the quality of governance in India. PAC is known for its pioneering work on
Citizen Report Cards (CRCs) not only in India but also internationally. PAC has
generated or published over 60 reports on various cities and towns in India and more
than a dozen in other parts of the world. Government of India and several states
governments have engaged PACto undertake social audits in several departments and
sectors.
The Citizen Report Card is a simple and powerful tool to understand various qualitative
and quantitative aspects of service delivery of government agencies. It follows a ‘bottom-
up’ approach to reflect information about users’ awareness, access, usage and satisfaction
in order to assess public services effectively. Thereafter, CRC takes one step ahead and
undertakes a complete stakeholder audit by including service providers and community
representatives. This brings about a balanced approach and ensures comprehensiveness
of the assessment of the public service.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
manpower. Interviews with BESCOM staff elicited their views on how well they were
able to process and settle users’ problems and the difficulties and constraints they
faced in the course of this work.
Methodology
Research Design
The research design of the study involved the following steps:
a. Preparatory activities
The PAC study team met with the BESCOM officials at various levels to understand
the norms followed for dealing with receiving applications for power supply; forwarding
the application to the sanctioning authority; releasing service connections; maintaining
lines; attending to consumer complaints regarding power supply in terms of its quality
and other technical matters, and action taken on complaints.
b. Questionnaire design
Questionnaires, designed for the BESCOM staff assessment formed the base and were
modified to suit contextual requirements. The data collection instruments included,
a. Interview schedule for BESCOM personnel, and
b. Interview schedule for BESCOM users.
The scope of data collection instruments covered the following:
w Usage of the service
w Service quality and reliability
w Problems and resolution
w Corruption
w Satisfaction
w Suggestions
Along with these, the interview schedule for BESCOM staff also included their job
aspects, support from department and community, responsiveness and observation of
infrastructure.
c. Sampling design
There are 568 sub-division and section/unit offices under BESCOM jurisdiction (115
sub divisions and 453 section/unit offices).3 The study covered 100 sub-division and
section/unit offices through random selection representing all three Zones and all
eight Circles of BESCOM.
3
From http://www.bescom.org/
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
As per the hierarchy of BESCOM staff at the sub-divisional and section/unit office
levels in an office, 6 members of BESCOM staff per office were interviewed:
1. Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE)
2. Assistant Engineer (AE)/Junior Engineer (JE),
3. Mechanic Grade 1/Mechanic Grade 2,
4. Lineman,
5. Assistant Lineman and
6. Overseer/Meter Reader/Operator.
Among the users, 20 recent users were selected from the database or register kept at
each of the selected offices and were interviewed in their homes. If the sample universe
is taken, then the total sample size was:
Table1.1: Sample size for survey
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Table 1.2 provides the rationale for the selection of proportionate number of sample
to the actual universe at the Zonal level while Table 1.3 reflects the sample allocation
at the lower levels.
1
Bangalore Rural, 2Kolar, 3Tumkur, 4Davanagere
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
and feedback was given by the MD, BESCOM, with suggestions for immediate action
that can be initiated in response to some of the findings.
Structure of the Report
The report is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is on the background of the
study which details out the project objectives, the methodology and the sampling
details. The second chapter presents findings from the feedback collected from
BESCOM users. The third chapter provides findings from the feedback collected from
BESCOM staff and the fourth presents the conclusions and recommendations.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Electricity is an essential service and its impact on everyday life is immense. Services of
BESCOM affect lives of people of eight districts of Karnataka. For the present survey,
users who subscribed to electricity connection in the last three years from BESCOM
were selected. This time period ensured that users could recall their experiences with
BESCOM, since the time they applied for a new electricity connection, till today. To
conduct a detailed spatial interpretation, feedback from the users was analysed both at
the Circle and at the Zonal level.
Profile of Users
w Type of area: In terms of rural–urban composition, nearly 46 percent of the area
covered under the study was urban and the rest was rural (54 percent). Among the
three Zones, BMAZ was predominantly urban (94 percent) compared to BRAZ (25
percent) and CTAZ (21 percent).
w Gender and age group: Two-thirds of the respondents were men while the rest
were women. The average age of respondents was 40 years.
w Religion and caste: Around 91 percent of the respondents were Hindus and 6
percent were Muslims. The caste composition consisted of Forward Castes (21
percent), Backward Castes (61 percent), Scheduled Castes (13 percent) and Scheduled
Tribes (6 percent).
w Education: About 11 percent of the respondents were illiterate, 24 percent had
completed middle/primary education, 41 percent had completed secondary/PUC
education and 22 percent were graduates and post-graduates.
w Occupation: Less than one-fifth of the respondents were farmers (18 percent), 10
percent were non-agricultural labourers, 20 percent were self-employed and 26
percent were working in the service sector (government/private).
w Family size and annual income: Median of the total family size was five in all three
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Zones. Annual income in the three Zones showed sharp economic inequalities in
urban and rural areas of Karnataka. Only two percent of the respondents in BMAZ
were BPL, while 14 percent in BRAZ and 58 percent in CTAZ had respondents
belonging to BPL category. Total proportion of respondents belonging to BPL
category was 26 percent, considering the average of all three Zones.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
w More than 97 percent respondents used paid connections, while the rest subscribed
to Bhagyajothi/Kutirajyothi schemes.
w Sharp contrasts were found in urban and rural areas regarding the type of connection.
In BMAZ, majority of the connections (69 percent) were 3–phase. In BRAZ and
CTAZ, majority of the users had single phase connections (88 percent and 89
percent, respectively).
w Electricity connections taken by 88 percent of respondents were less than three
years old, while remaining connections were older than three years.
Experiences of users who applied for electricity connection (excluding Bhagyajyothi
beneficiaries (51) and tenants (71)), reflect the following:
w Approach to BESCOM: Only 24 percent of the respondents visited BESCOM
directly (Table 2.5) to get a new connection (highest in Tumkur Circle followed by
Davangere and South). Interestingly, 38 percent of the respondents employed private
electricians, while 25 percent approached middlemen/agents to get their electricity
connections.
w Reason for employing intermediary: Among users who employed private electricians
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
SO EA NO WE B(R) KO TU DA BM BR CT BES
N 158 160 160 156 311 329 291 313 634 640 604 1878
Directly 32 8 14 21 20 16 36 34 18 18 35 24
Through middle-
man / agent 68 93 86 79 80 84 64 66 82 82 65 76
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
w Ease of getting the connection: Nearly 60 percent of the respondents felt that it is
easy to get a new electricity connection – this was reported the most in South (82
percent), East (77 percent) and North (73 percent) Circles. The lowest was in
Tumkur (38 percent) Circle, while nearly 40
percent felt otherwise. This reflects the need to Only 60 percent users feel that it
make the entire process of getting electricity is easy to get a new electricity
connection
connection more user-friendly. More than 55
percent of the respondents in CTAZ found it
difficult to get the connection, thereby calling for timely action to improve
BESCOM services in this Zone.
Chart 2.3: Ease of getting connection across Circles & Zones (%)
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
15 hours a day. After considering the data from all three Zones, average hours of
power cut was found to be six hours a day. Residents of Karnataka, which is one of
progressive states in India, definitely face severe shortage of power.
SO EA NO WE B(R) KO TU DA BM BR CT BES
N 160 160 160 160 316 336 323 334 640 652 657 1949
Scheduled
power cuts 38 37 57 37 49 52 29 14 42 51 22 38
Unscheduled
power cuts 23 38 12 19 40 18 35 58 23 29 47 33
Both 4 1 0 3 5 21 36 26 2 14 31 16
No power cuts 38 37 57 37 49 52 29 14 42 51 22 38
Average duration
of power cuts
in a day (hrs.) 3 3 2 2 5 8 7 7 3 6 7 6
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Table 2.7: Mode of payment of electricity bills across Circles and Zones (%)
Name of the Circle Name of
the Zone
SO EA NO WE B(R) KO TU DA BM BR CT BES
Meter reader 2 1 0 3 42 63 53 38 1 53 45 33
BESCOM cash
counter 48 77 73 61 22 20 20 10 64 21 15 33
Grama Vidyut
Prathinidhi 0 0 0 0 16 9 9 40 0 12 25 12
Bangalore/
Tumkur One
centres 24 14 18 27 3 0 0 0 21 1 0 7
BESCOM
consumer Billing
Centre 6 3 3 6 6 2 5 10 4 4 8 5
Any time payment
counters(BESCOM
Kiosks) 13 1 6 1 12 5 0 0 5 8 0 5
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
the problem (three visits in East, North and Davangere Circles; four visits in
West Circle; five visits in South and seven visits in Bangalore Rural and Kolar
Circles).
Table 2.8: Type of problems across Zones (%)
Type of Problem BMAZ BRAZ CTAZ Total
Related to line break downs 25 62 87 67
Voltage variations 31 33 40 35
Transformer failure 37 20 41 31
Related to Fuse - offs calls 23 12 40 25
Meter complaints 26 6 5 9
Bills 12 7 1 5
More than half (56 percent) the number of users who contacted BESCOM to
report their problems contacted the Assistant Engineer (AE/Junior Engineer
(JE), while nearly 35 percent reported to the lineman. Nearly 15 percent of the
users approached the overseer/meter reader/operator and 11 percent contacted
the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE).
w Place of lodging complaint: More than half of those users who faced a problem,
lodged their complaint at the O&M office (51 percent), with others at the Sub-
division office (26 percent) and customer service centre (12 percent).
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w Efficiency of staff: Only eight percent of the users said the efficiency of staff was
excellent, while 58 percent said it was good. Twenty-eight (28) percent of users
rated the efficiency of staff as average while seven percent users said it was poor.
Poor, 7
Excellent, 8
Average, 28
Good, 57
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Satisfaction
The following findings reflect user satisfaction on various parameters from those users
who personally visited the BESCOM office:
w Time taken to attend: 44 percent of the users were completely satisfied; 32
percent were partly satisfied and 24 percent were dissatisfied. Among the three
Zones, BRAZ reported the highest percentage of users who were completely
satisfied (57 percent), while CTAZ had the highest proportion of dissatisfied
users (41 percent).
w Time taken to solve problem: 53 percent of the users were completely satisfied;
24 percent were partly satisfied and 23 percent expressed their dissatisfaction.
Among the three Zones, the number of users who were completely satisfied is
highest in CTAZ (62 percent) and the highest proportion of those who were
dissatisfied is in BMAZ (31 percent).
w Helpfulness of staff: 61 percent of the users were completely satisfied; 29 percent
were partly satisfied and 10 percent were dissatisfied. Among the three Zones,
the proportion of users who were completely satisfied is highest in BRAZ (65
percent) and the number of users who were dissatisfied is highest in BMAZ (19
percent).
w Efficiency with which problem was dealt with: 53 percent of the users were
completely satisfied, 31 percent were partly satisfied and 16 percent were
dissatisfied. Interestingly, among the three Zones, the proportion of users who
were completely satisfied as well as dissatisfied were highest in BRAZ (57 percent
and 24 percent, respectively).
w Ability of the staff in providing the information users required: 39 percent of
10
10 23 10 16
24 30
35 29 31 35
32 24
31
55 44 53 61 53 39 55
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the users were completely satisfied, 31 percent were partly satisfied and 30 percent
were dissatisfied. Among the three Zones, the proportion of users who were
completely satisfied is highest in BRAZ (51 percent) and the proportion of users
who were dissatisfied is highest in CTAZ (44 percent).
w Overall behaviour of staff with users: 55 percent of the users were completely
satisfied, 35 percent were partly satisfied and 10 percent were dissatisfied. Among
the three Zones, the proportion of users who were completely satisfied is highest
in CTAZ (62 percent) and the proportion of users who were dissatisfied is highest
in BMAZ (19 percent).
w Overall scenario of problem incidence, lodging complaint and problem
resolution: Of the 31 percent of users who had problems with BESCOM’s
services, only 48 percent contacted the agency to lodge a complaint and, of
them, 71 percent got their problems solved. Problem incidences were more in
the Kolar (52 percent), Tumkur (42 percent) and Davangere (315) Circles and
problem resolution was highest in the Davangere (90 percent), South (79
percent), and Bangalore Rural (77 percent) Circles.
Chart 2.6 : Problem Incidence & Problem Resolution across Circles and Zones
Feedback on overall aspects of service delivery canvassed among all the users, revealed
the following:
w Regularity of power supply: 48 percent of the users were completely satisfied,
29 percent were partly satisfied and 24 percent were dissatisfied. Among the
three Zones, the proportion of users who were completely satisfied is highest in
BMAZ (75 percent) and the proportion of users who were dissatisfied is highest
in CTAZ (40 percent).
w Timings of power cuts: 36 percent of the users were completely satisfied, 27
percent were partly satisfied and 36 percent were dissatisfied. Among the three
Zones, the proportion of users who were completely satisfied is highest in BMAZ
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
(60 percent) and the proportion of users who are dissatisfied is highest in CTAZ
(54 percent).
w Quality of power supply (without fluctuations): 48 percent of the users were
completely satisfied, 30 percent were partly satisfied and 22 percent were
dissatisfied. Among the three Zones, the proportion of users who were completely
satisfied is highest in BMAZ (66 percent) and the proportion of users who were
dissatisfied is highest in CTAZ (36 percent).
Table 2.9: Satisfaction with quality of service across Circles and Zones (%)
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Reasons for dissatisfaction and suggestions for improvement: Table 2.10 explains
reasons for dissatisfaction, requirements for complete satisfaction and suggestions for
improvement.
Table 2.10: Reasons for dissatisfaction & Suggestions for Improvements
w Improvement in the overall quality of the service (in the last one year): 20
percent of the users noticed improvements
On the whole, 20 percent users
and 58 percent observed no change in overall
observed improvement in quality
quality of service provided by BESCOM. of service by BESCOM
Nearly five percent of the users said that the
quality of services had deteriorated.
Table 2.11 provides information regarding the improvements observed by users.
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w Power savings: More than two-thirds (68 percent) surveyed had seen BESCOM’s
recent advertisements regarding power saving methods. TV and newspapers were
two of the most important channels that spread awareness about saving power.
The following graph shows user recall of advertisements from BESCOM regarding
power saving.
w Methods used by consumers to save power: Turning off lights, fans and other
electrical gadgets (98 percent), using sunlight in day time and reducing the use
of artificial lights (89 percent), using low wattage bulbs for corridors and other
less important areas (51 percent), keeping the bulbs and tubelights clean to get
better light (45 percent), using tubelights in place of filament lights (35 percent)
and keeping the refrigerator door closed (12 percent) have been adopted by
BESCOM consumers to save power.
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Job Aspects
Feedback regarding their work at BESCOM revealed the following:
w Access: 54 percent of the BESCOM staff had their current residence in the same
place as the BESCOM office. 73 percent respondents brought their own vehicles
to the office, seve percent used office vehicle, 12 percent came by bus and seven
percent preferred to walk. On an average, they travelled six km to reach their
offices.
w Jurisdiction: On an average, each O&M and Sub-division serves nearly half a lakh
(49,371) customers. However, there are sharp
Average number of customers
differences in terms of the customers served
served by employees of BMAZ
in Circles and Zones. On an average each sub- is more than twice than that
division addresses 83,068 consumers and O&M served by employees of the
addresses 39,305 consumers. There is also a other two Zones
huge variation among the Circles i.e., South
Circle (113,501) serves more consumers than Tumkur Circle (23,636).
Table3.2: Average number of consumers served
N Average Consumers
South 8 1,13,501
East 8 69,750
North 8 49,788
West 8 42,353
BLR (R) 16 45,531
Kolar 17 36,906
Tumkur 17 23,636
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N Average Consumers
Davangere 18 54,234
Zones
BLR-Metroploitan 32 68,848
BLR-Rural 33 41,088
Chitradurga 35 39,372
BESCOM 100 49,371
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Nearly 63 percent respondents took leave only when required; 17 percent took
monthly leave; nearly 20 percent took leave in six months. Nearly three percent
of the respondents said they were never allowed to take leave. However, 85
percent of BESCOM employees received monetary compensation for
surrendering leave (EL). The remaining 15 percent did not receive any such
compensation.
w Office strength: Only 45 percent of the respondents said they were able to
discharge their duties with the current office strength.
Various reasons were cited for not being able to discharge BESCOM suffers
from shortage of
their duties with the current office strength (given in more
staff
detail later in the chapter).
When asked about actions that need to be taken to improve their work, 67 percent
said they needed more staff; 25 percent said they needed supply of good quality
materials; nine percent asked for vehicle facilities; four percent asked for additional/
good transformers; four percent called for better maintenance of lines and poles;
four percent said staff should work sincerely; more than three percent said they
needed supportive officers and two percent called for reducing their work load.
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While 65 percent of the employees said safety tools were of good quality, the
rest said the quality was average. Among the employees who found the material
of average/poor quality, 91 percent said they were able to convey their message
to higher officers. Among the employees who did not
convey their message, 90 percent said that it was of no High proportion of
staff find quality of
use even if the message was conveyed to higher officers hand gloves wanting
and the remaining 10 percent did not know whom to
contact about poor quality of materials.
When they were asked to give suggestions regarding the items given to them, 78
percent of them asked for supply of good quality items.
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discharge their duties for the whole month. An additional amount of Rs. 1,000
as vehicle allowance were needed, according to the respondents.
w Travel allowance: 55 percent of the respondents were regularly getting travel
allowance every month, while the rest were not getting any.
On an average, travel allowance received was Rs. 650 per month.
More than 86 percent of the respondents said their travel allowance was not
sufficient to discharge their duties for the whole month. Among the employees,
67 percent Assistant Executive Engineers found the travel allowance sufficient.
But the majority of other employees sought additional travel allowance. Median
of additional amount needed by employees was found to be Rs. 1,500.
w Compliance to BESCOM guidelines: With the support they were getting from
BESCOM, 69 percent of the respondents said they were able to comply with
BESCOM guidelines regarding consumer grievance redress. The remaining 31
percent cited various reasons such as staff shortage (90 percent), wide area to be
covered (45 percent), difficulty in accessing areas (30 percent), lack of proper
vehicle facilities (30 percent) and required materials not being readily available
(30 percent) as the main reasons for not being able to comply with BESCOM
guidelines regarding consumer grievance redress.
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Chart 3.2: Proportion of respondents rating excellent/good support from officers (%)
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Information regarding BESCOM’s role in their personal lives revealed the following:
w Housing loan: 15 percent of the respondents said they were provided housing
loans by BESCOM; 68 percent did not receive any such loans and 17 percent
said they were not entitled. Among employees who were provided housing
loans by BESCOM, 84 percent were completely satisfied, 12 percent were partly
satisfied and four percent were dissatisfied.
w Education loan: 11 percent of the respondents said they were provided education
loans by BESCOM; 71 percent did not receive any such loans and 18 percent
said they were not entitled to education loans. Among employees who were
provided education loans, 82 percent were completely satisfied, 10 percent were
partly satisfied and seven percent were dissatisfied.
w Health insurance cover: 18 percent of the respondents said they were provided
health insurance cover by BESCOM; 65 percent did not receive any such cover
and 17 percent said they were not entitled. Among employees who were provided
health insurance cover, 76 percent were completely satisfied, 19 percent were
partly satisfied and five percent were dissatisfied.
w 42 percent of the respondents said that department supported them in times of
family needs/crises. In 90 percent of the cases,
Majority of the staff expect
it was in the form of financial help/ financial support from Bescom
compensation; for nine percent it was in the during times of family need/
form of counselling and for five percent, health crisis
facilities were provided by the department.
w Encouragement: Only 10 percent of the respondents said they were given
opportunities in the department to come up with new or innovative ideas to
act upon. These included Assistant Executive Engineers (20 percent) and Assistant
Engineers /Junior Engineers (19 percent). This probably reflects that heads of
the offices are getting more encouragement from the department compared to
their subordinates.
Interference from outside: More than one-third (35 percent) of the respondents said
they had come across people of influence interfering/
involving themselves in work. Among Assistant People of influence were badly
Executive Engineers, 86 percent came across people affecting (86 percent) regular
work of staff of Bescom
around politicians; 76 percent experienced local
politicians interfering in work; 19 percent
experienced the same from caste/community leaders. In eight percent of the cases the
interfering persons comprised officials from other departments; in seven percent of
the cases officials from the same department and in six percent of the cases, from
media (multiple responses taken). Among employees who had come across people of
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quarter being Rs. 1,00,000 in urban areas and Rs. 20,000 in rural areas). 91
percent of these respondents said they had received quarterly maintenance fund.
w The major problems faced by heads of the offices while approving new electricity
connections were non-availability of required documents (33 percent), NOC (17
percent), no readily availed lines in the location (17 percent), road-cutting and
lack of materials (8 percent).
w Simplifying the forms, lesser documentation process, consumer awareness
campaigns regarding the new connection process and making the user directly
interact with BESCOM were suggestions given by the authorities to improve
the process of applying for electricity connection.
w On registering a complaint at the BESCOM office, 86 percent of the
respondents said they recorded this in a complaint register, 63 percent said they
gave an oral complaint and 10 percent said they advised the user to go to the
office of the relevant jurisdiction. While 27 percent said they gave
acknowledgements to the complainants, 34 percent said they take only contact
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details of the complainants and 45 percent said they do not issue any
acknowledgement for the complaint received. The proportion of respondents
not issuing any acknowledgement to the complainant was least in BMAZ (25
percent) compared to BRAZ (60 percent) and CTAZ (51 percent).
Chart 3.4: Proportion of respondents issuing acknowledgement to complainants
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Corruption
In terms of external corruption, the feedback is as follows:
w As a personal viewpoint regarding corruption, 89 percent of the respondents
said that corruption should be eliminated; seven percent felt that corruption is
not a major problem and that it was human nature, while five percent thought
corruption cannot be avoided.
w Only 14 percent of the respondents agreed that there were practices involving
taking of money or personal favours from consumers/the public in their
department. Around 27 percent of the Assistant Executive Engineers agreed
that such practices existed in their department.
w Nearly 72 percent of the respondents said that such practices exist in their
department because of personal greed; 15 percent thought
corrupt practices were practised only by middleman/ Personal greed is
contractors; 12 percent said they were forced by higher officers a major cause for
to collect bribe; 11 percent said corrupt practices existed corruption
to resolve the problem they faced; nine percent said such
practices existed to meet the expenses of the office.
w However, 74 percent of the respondents also said corruption can be avoided.
Strict action against corrupt employees (64 percent), making efforts for consumers
to interact easily with the department (16 percent) and avoiding middlemen (12
percent) were the suggestions given for ending corruption in the department.
w Regarding internal corruption, 99.7 percent of the respondents said that they
had not paid money or done a personal favour to anyone in the department to
get their work done. Among the respondents (only two) who paid such money
or did personal favours, did it during recruitment/transfer/posting process and
one did it for entitlements (leave, allocation of work, etc.).
Satisfaction Levels and Suggestions
w An overwhelming majority (98 percent) of the respondents said that they were
satisfied with the way BESCOM performed.
98 percent respondents are
Among the employees who were not satisfied, satisfied with the performance
54 percent asked for providing more staff; 47 of BESCOM
percent asked for providing good quality
materials and 14 percent called for better service delivery from the BESCOM.
w Also, 94 percent said that they were completely satisfied with their job in
BESCOM; while only three percent were dissatisfied.
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Reasons for dissatisfaction and suggestions for improvement: The matrix given below
provides reasons for dissatisfaction, requirements for complete satisfaction and
suggestions for improvement.
Changes observed (in the last three years): 60 percent of the staff who were interviewed
noticed changes over the past three years in the department. The table given below
provides information regarding positive and negative changes observed by the staff.
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Conclusions and
Policy Recommendations
One of the objectives of this study was to assist BESCOM to use the information and
knowledge generated, so that actionable policies and remedies can be formulated. This
chapter puts together the conclusions drawn from this study and their policy
implications.
1. Getting a connection: Our findings show that less than one-fourth (24 percent) of
the users interacted directly with BESCOM offices to get a new connection. More
than three-fourths (76 percent) of the users approached intermediaries/middlemen/
third party systems to get new connections which
led to extra monetary burden on them. This In spite of ease of new
reflects the need to take necessary action to connection process (60
percent), there is high depend-
minimize or prevent middlemen involvement for ence on third parties for
getting a connection by simplifying the application getting a new connection.
process (40 percent reported that application
process is difficult) and using new technology (making everything through online).
2. Low awareness levels regarding power-saving bulbs: More than half the number of
respondents said that they are using a minimum of two incandescent bulbs (which
consumes more power) even though campaigns and awareness programmes have
taken place to stop using incandescent bulbs. Renewed efforts are required to heighten
awareness among users regarding power saving alternatives.
3. Forced expenditure to maintain coping mechanisms: To avoid power cuts and
voltage fluctuations, 47 percent of the respondents are using coping strategies to
support electrical appliances for consistent power supply which involves extra money
to maintain these peripherals. BESCOM should endeavour to provide information
regarding power supply durations and maintain consistent voltage to ensure
consumer comfort.
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theft (43 percent), receiving applications (32 percent) and meter reading (22 percent)
are major multi-tasking as part of the work culture. To meet BESCOM guidelines
for consumer grievances, more than half (55 percent) the number of the interviewed
staff reported that with current office strength they are not able to manage all
deliverables, needing not only more staff but also quality material for better service
delivery. There is clear evidence that work overload, gaps in sanctioned and working
staff, lack of adequate materials, and low quality materials contribute to the problems
identified by the users. Since the intensity of these issues vary among Zones and
Circles, solutions have to be contextual in nature.
8. Support and loyalty among BESCOM personnel: Among the staff, there are both
positive and negative reflections. Most of the staff got their weekly holidays whenever
they required.
Receiving safety tools in time and their quality were found to be good among those
who required them. But, in each office, only 44 percent of the staff received the
safety tools while the rest are yet to receive them. About 60 percent received walkie-
talkie, of them three-fourths received training on how to use them. Most of the staff
attended different training programmes and felt that these were useful. Only one-
third (33 percent) of those interviewed were appreciated for their work. This is an
aspect that needs more attention. Most of the staff also reported getting good
support from their superior officers, which give them more enthusiasm to work.
However, influence from outside sources seems to have affected their work as such
involvement has often been a hindrance in their day-to-day work.
This study clearly showed very low levels of awareness about funds received by each
office for various purposes, pointing towards the need to take efforts to make the
staff more knowledgeable about reforms, policy changes with action-taken messages
being disseminated instantly. Around two-thirds (60 percent) of the staff said that
they have observed some positive changes over the past three years within the
department in terms of improvement in giving good service to the public (29
percent), improvement in revenue collection (17 percent), regular power supply (12
percent), providing vehicles (12 percent), providing safety materials (10 percent),
improvement in poles/lines/cables (nine percent), getting the required quality
materials, improvement in supply of transformers (eight percent).
An encouraging finding is the high levels of trust and satisfaction shown by staff
with the department, which opens the door to improve efficiency and productiveness
of the staff with their support. This is an asset on which the department can build,
in order to achieve better performance. That such high level of loyalty and trust has
been displayed or conveyed by the staff is commendable as their work-related
problems as discussed are not insignificant.
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9. Satisfaction contrasts between users and personnel: One of the interesting findings
of the study is the contrast between the satisfaction levels indicated by BESCOM
staff personnel as opposed to the satisfaction levels of users. While only 52 percent
of the users have indicated complete satisfaction with their interaction with the
department, the satisfaction of the staff personnel with their performance is much
higher (94 percent). It is important to understand that the assessment of the users
reflects their experience with the services they obtain at the Sub-division or O&M
offices and since BESCOM is a service delivery entity, it needs to find ways to
improve consumer satisfaction and not take comfort in the reported high levels of
satisfaction mentioned by the staff.
10. Wide regional variations: There are wide regional variations on various aspects of
service delivery across the Zones. It would be good to target those weak areas in the
system in each of the Zones. Some of them include – the CTAZ Zone especially
reflects the highest proportion of problems from the respondents – frequent and
longer power cuts, unscheduled power cuts, difficulty in getting a connection, and
lack of immediate response. Since Circles and Zones vary in their socio-economic
conditions and levels of development, there is a need to pay greater attention to the
quality of management, supervision, and the types of training being provided in
the Circles and the Zones.
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Follow-up Action
One of the main objectives of the study was to assist BESCOM, to use the information
and knowledge generated through the study so that actionable policies and remedies
can be formulated. To ensure the same, it was felt that the findings of the study
should be shared with all senior level officials in BESCOM so that issues could be
discussed, debated and remedial actions arrived at.
Dissemination of Findings
1. Upon completion of data analysis and interpretation of the data collected from
the field survey, PAC made a presentation to BESCOM officials who had gathered
from all the eight jurisdictional districts on the day of Officers Review Meeting
(ORM) held in February 2013. Points of concern that were highlighted during
the presentation were discussed and corrective measures suggested that were closely
minuted.
2. These were then put together in the form of recommendations that BESCOM
proposed to undertake and shared with PAC.
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Annexure 2: Tables on User Feedback
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Recent Releases
A Life and Its Lessons: Memoirs
Samuel Paul
Samuel Paul, well-known scholar, institution-builder and social activist, tells his life
story and distills the lessons of experience learnt from a wide range of institutions,
both national and international, with which he was associated. In a long and
distinguished career, he has been the Director of the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad, adviser to the United Nations, ILO and the World Bank, founder and
first chairperson of Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore, author of “citizen report cards”
and other pioneering tools of social accountability. His reflections on the success
and sustainability of institutions offer important insights of relevance to practitioners,
scholars and students alike. The story is told in a lucid style, with candour, wit and
sensitivity to the great social challenges of our time.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
Changing the Urban Face of Karnataka: Evidence from Three Urban Development
Programmes
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PAC Publications
1. Strengthening Public Accountability: New Approaches and Mechanisms (Samuel Paul), 1995.
2. Public Services and the Urban Poor in Mumbai: A Report Card (Suresh Balakrishnan, Sita Sekhar), 1995.
3. Corruption: Who will Bell the Cat? (Samuel Paul), 1997.
4. Bangalore Hospitals and the Urban Poor: A Report Card (Suresh Balakrishnan, Anjana Iyer), 1998.
5. Prometheus Unbound Or, Still in Chains? A Report Card on the Impact of Economic Reforms on the Private
Enterprise Sector in India (Gopakumar K. Thampi), 1998.
6. Elections in Bangalore Municipal Corporation: An Experiment to Stimulate Informed Choices (S. Manjunath),
1998.
7. Voices from the Capital: A Report Card on Public Service in Delhi (Sita Sekhar, Suresh Balakrishnan),
1999.
8. A Citizens’ Report Card on Karnataka’s Governance (Samuel Paul, Gopakumar K), 1999.
9. City Finances in India: Some Disquieting Trends (Sita Sekhar, Smita Bidarkar), 1999.
10. Strengthening Public Accountability and Good Governance (K. Gopakumar), 1999.
11. Public Interest Litigation: A Tool for Social Action and Public Accountability (Anuradha Rao), 1999.
12. State of the Art as Art of the State: Evaluating e-governance Initiatives through citizen feedback (Ramesh
Ramanathan, Suresh Balakrishnan), 2000.
13. Wanted: An Enabling Industrial Environment in Karnataka (Samuel Paul, Sheila Premkumar, Prasann
Thatte), 2000.
14. Benchmarking Urban Services: The Second Report Card on Bangalore (Samuel Pual, Sita Sekhar), 2000.
15. Citizen’s Audit of Public Services in Rural Tamil Nadu (Catalyst Trust, Public Affairs Centre), 2001.
16. Civic Engagement for Better Public Governance (Manjunath Sadashiva, Suresh Balakrishnan), 2002.
17. New Media and People’s Empowerment: The Second Public Affairs Lecture (Dr. Mallika Sarabhai), 2002.
18. ABC… Of Voting: A Guide For Voting in Indian Elections (Public Affairs Centre), 2002.
19. Universal Elementary Education: A Way Forward for India. The Third Annual Public Affairs Lecture (Azim
Premji), 2003.
20. A Report Card on Bhoomi Kiosks (Albert Lobo, Suresh Balakrishnan), 2004.
21. Towards User Report Cards on Irrigation Services (Suresh Balakrishnan, Albert Lobo), 2004.
22. BATF: A Partnership with Promise? The Fourth Annual Public Affairs Lecture (Nandan M. Nilekani),
2004.
23. Public Affairs Centre: A Retrospective 1994 - 2000.
24. Holding a Mirror to the New Lok Sabha (Samuel Paul, M. Vivekananda), 2005.
25. Karnataka’s Citizens’ Charters: A Preliminary Assessment (Anuradha Rao), 2005.
26. Electoral Disclosure in Karnataka: A Reality Check (Samuel Paul, Poornima D.G., Anuradha Rao), 2005.
27. Spirituality & Universality: The Fifth Annual Public Affairs Lecture ( Sri Sri Ravi Shankar), 2005.
28. Benchmarking India’s Public Services: A comparison across the states (Samuel Paul, Suresh Balakrishnan, K.
Gopakumar, Sita Sekhar, M. Vivekananda), 2005.
29. Setting a Benchmark: Citizen Report Card on Public Services in Bhubaneswar (Public Affairs Centre,
Centre for Youth and Social Development), 2005.
30. Are They Being Served? Citizen Report Card on Public Services for the Poor in Peri-Urban Areas of Bangalore
(Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, Venugopala Reddy), 2005.
31. Holding the State to Account: Lessons of Bangalore’s Citizen Report Cards (Samuel Paul), 2006.
32. Deepening Democracy: A Decade of Electoral Interventions by Civil Society Groups 1996-2006 (Public
Affairs Centre), 2006.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
33. Benchmarking Bangalore’s Public Services: What the Third Citizen Report Card Reveals (Sita Sekhar, Manisha
Shah), 2006.
34. Citizenship and Good Governance: The Sixth Annual Public Affairs Lecture (Sheila Dikshit), 2006.
35. Public Services in Hubli-Dharwad: A Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, Venugopala Reddy),
2007.
36. Greater Bangalore Governance Options (S. Krishna Kumar), 2007.
37. Assessment of Citizen Centres in Tamil Nadu (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, A. Venugopala Reddy, K.
Prabhakar), 2007.
38. Public Services in Hubli-Dharwad: The Second Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, K. Prabhakar,
Prarthana Rao), 2008.
39. Decentralised Service Delivery in Panchayats: A Pilot Citizens’ Audit (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, A. Venugopala
Reddy), 2008.
40. Public Services Provided by Gram Panchayats in Chattisgarh: A Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena
Nair, K. Prabhakar), 2008.
41. Study of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Initiatives on Universalisation of Elementary Education in Karnataka with
Special Reference to Concerns of Gender and Equity (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, K. Prabhakar, Prarthana
Rao), 2009.
42. Services of Gram Panchayats in Koraput, Orissa: A Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, K.
Prabhakar, Prarthana Rao), 2009.
43. A Mirror to the Police: A Bottom-Up Assessment of the Karnataka Police (Meena Nair, K. Prabhakar,
Prarthana Rao), 2010.
44. Towards a Vibrant Knowledge Society: A Stakeholder Audit of the Karnataka Jnana Aayoga (Shweta Gaur,
Nivedita Kashyap, Meena Nair, R. Suresh), 2011.
45. A Life and Its Lessons: Memoirs (Samuel Paul), 2012.
46. Citizen Monitoring and Audit of PMGSY Roads: Pilot Phase II (Public Affairs Centre), 2012.
47. Improving Governance the Participatory Way: A pilot study of maternal health services for urban poor in
Bangalore (Meena Nair, K Prabhakar, Prarthana Rao, Poornima G. R.), 2012.
48. Case Studies from the Social Audit of Public Service Delivery in Karnataka (M. Vivekananda, S. Sreedharan,
Malavika Belavangala), 2012.
49. Changing the Urban Face of Karnataka: Evidence from three urban development programmes (Kala S Sridhar,
Venugopala Reddy, Pavan Srinath), 2012.
50. Citizen Voices in Environmental Governance–Proccedings of the Colloquium organised by the
Environmental Governance Group Bangalore – 23-24 August 2012.
51. Social Audit of Public Service Delivery in Karnataka (M. Vivekananda, Dr. S. Sreedharan, Malavika
Belavangala), 2012.
52. Transforming Karnataka into a Vibrant Knowledge Society (Satyajeet Nanda, Nivedita Kashyap, Meena
Nair, R. Suresh), 2013.
53. A Green Manifesto for Environmental Governance – A people-centred tool and approach (PAC Environmental
Governance Group), 2013.
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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An Assessment of BESCOM Services
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