India may have achieved 100% household electrification but 28% of consumers remain “dissatisfied” over the quality of electricity, namely voltage fluctuations and power surges, and the resultant damage to appliances, according to a survey of utilities by government think-tank Niti Ayog, The Rockefeller Foundation and Smart Power India.
“Such fluctuations can damage electrical appliances, which means either a higher additional cost for customers in terms of installing voltage stabilizers or decisions not to invest in electrical appliances that can be potentially damaged. Decisions to avoid certain appliances also reduce customers’ electricity consumption, which causes utilities to lose opportunities for revenue that could be charged at the same overhead expenses,” says the survey.
The problem increases during summer when consumers place a higher emphasis on quality of electricity, with only 47% of the households that reported maximum voltage fluctuations saying they were satisfied, says the survey.
Overall, only 55% of the more than 25,000 surveyed customers expressed satisfaction with the quality of their electricity supply. Urban areas fared better with 66% of consumers expressing satisfaction with the quality of electricity against 51% in rural areas.
While 55% of the dissatisfied customers said they had an appliance damaged in the past one year, 75% of satisfied customers across categories reported no appliance damage.
Gujarat West emerged as the best with 95% consumers expressing satisfaction with the quality of electricity. Karnataka was next, with three of the five utilities – Karnataka Bangalore, Karnataka Mangalore and Karnataka Mysore – figuring in the top five utilities based on customer satisfaction ranging between 82% and 84%.
In Uttar Pradesh, except for UP Kanpur, all the other four utilities were in the bottom five with 70% of consumers saying voltage fluctuations are a major concern. Meghalaya came in last with 12% of consumers expressing satisfaction, which, the survey says, could be due to the high incidence of appliance damage (61%) compared to the utility average of 31% and voltage fluctuations (75%) reported by consumers in the state.
The proportion of satisfied consumers was the highest at 63% in the institutional category, while the agricultural category had the lowest proportion at 51%. In contrast, a majority, or 55%, of household consumers reported satisfaction. The number of satisfied commercial customers too was higher in urban areas at 62% against 54% in rural areas.
Among agricultural customers, dissatisfaction with quality was highest among farmers with small and marginal land size (36% each), and least among farmers with large landholdings (4%). The majority (80%) of satisfied agricultural customers reported no voltage fluctuations, while only 15% of dissatisfied customers reported no fluctuations.
For institutional customers, the proportion of satisfied customers is the lowest in the educational segment. Urban/rural differences are also seen, with 67% of institutional customers from urban areas reporting satisfaction with quality, while only 61% of rural institutional customers were satisfied with their electricity quality.
