COMMENTS

Thanks for the note Murali sir.  In our experience, you have to pay BESCOM guys to come and do anything on the transformers and pay for the materials.  Otherwise they just do a crappy bypass. If it is their property, why should we pay?  Some of the repair work has to be seen to be believed.  I saw an MCB at the transformer where one phase had been short circuited with wire. 

This is a really unfair situation.  Seems like if you are living in an apartment, there are additional penalties.  You have to treat sewage, maintain transformers, deal with all and sundry who come and demand bribe, pay for ayudha poojas, deal with extortion rackets by BWSSB valvemen and AEs ... okay, I am venting. Back to subject.

Anyway, it is ironic that you mentioned "Electrical Inspectorate".  Just received a notice today. We have an LT2 connection (not HT).  However, they want to inspect the DG Sets, Lifts and something called the MSB which I am guessing is something like a Main Switch Breaker?  The inspection fee is a "nominal" Rs 16900/-.  Here is the best part- letter is dated 19 Feb 2011.  It was received today 23 Feb 2011.  According to the letter, inspection is on 24/01/2011 - which may be a typo.  And they want us to pay the "fees" on or before inspection date.

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In our experience, you have to pay BESCOM guys to come and do anything on the transformers and pay for the materials.  Otherwise they just do a crappy bypass. If it is their property, why should we pay?  Some of the repair work has to be seen to be believed.  I saw an MCB at the transformer where one phase had been short circuited with wire. This is a really unfair situation.  

Very true. May be we need to take up with Mr Manivannan about issuing the necessary correctives.

Seems like if you are living in an apartment, there are additional penalties.  You have to treat sewage, maintain transformers, deal with all and sundry who come and demand bribe, pay for ayudha poojas, deal with extortion rackets by BWSSB valvemen and AEs

There are specialised estate management service providers, like 'Handyman', who undertake these servicezs on a contract basis. Even with that, the MC will have sufficient work on hand, ensuring they do a proper job. On the other hand, if the MC is undertaking it all by itself, it can be quite challenging, and will require one or two people working full time. In fact, I know of an apartment complex, where the general body decided to pay a fair retainer to a lady resident who was on the job full time.

We have an LT2 connection (not HT).

True - but, you have a transformer installation within your premises. And, though the transformer is the property of BESCOM, unless you ensure its maintenance, you'll be the one to suffer. And, if it fails, I expect they will ask you to replace it.  

However, they want to inspect the DG Sets, Lifts and something called the MSB which I am guessing is something like a Main Switch Breaker?  The inspection fee is a "nominal" Rs 16900/-.  

I verified - the fee structure is as listed here. For gensets - Rs 300 each (ours are all 100 KVA rated - I don't know if the fee will vary according to capacity); secondary cables, and switchboards (for the gensets) - Rs 600 + 600; lifts - Rs 1,000 each; MSB (main switch-board) - Rs 3000 each. So, totally, for us it came to Rs 17,100/- (last Feb - it's again due now). For all the rectification work, the contractor charged Rs 15,000/-, which, in the estimate of our estate manager, would have included about Rs 5,000/- for the Inspectorate lot.

The fees of Rs 17,100/- for very little work on ther part, is nothing short of day-light robbery - another instance, you may say, of the 'business of governance'. Mercifully, they are not charging for the inspection of the transformers. If they were, that would have been the height of insolence.

 

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When a developer approches BESCOM for supply to an apartment project, he is required to install the electrical
infrastructure ( HT Switchgear, HT cable from the point of supply to the premises-sometimes kms away -, Transformer
LT cable from transformer to Metering panel etc ) at his cost based on the scheme of supply prepared by BESCOM. Once
the infrastructure is installed it is transferred to BESCOM ownership . Since there is a an HT installation ( even
though metering to individual apartments is done on LT tariff), it subject to safety audit by electrical
inspectorate prior to commissioning and anually thereafter.
    Being the owner of the installation, BESCOM is responsible for maintenance . However they hardly do anything any
work to be done is forced on the association.
    In addition to HT installation, DG Sets above 6KVA  and lifts also comes under the purview of electrical
inspectorate and is subject to anual inspection and certification. It is very  important to keep your records uptodate
since any accident will be investigated by Electrical Inspectorate  and if the records are not uptodate, it can lead to
penalty and punishment.

Mani Samuel

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@ ManiSamuel  -  Firstly, welcome to PRAJA.

Now, what happens if any part of the HT installation provided by the developer (and transferred to BESCOM) fails and has to be replaced? Will the association have to undertake the job, and bear the cost? Why I am asking this is, if the answer is yes, the association will then have to make a provision for this also in its 'sinking fund' (equipmant renewal fund) collections. Is there any precedent known to you?
 

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I just had a talk with arguably the best known electrical consultant in the field in the city - a good friend of mine. He told me that for providing the connection (HT), BESCOM requires the developer to put up the entire installation, and maintain it for a year, after which it becomes the property of BESCOM. Thereafter, though they should be maintaining it, it never happens that way, and the burden falls on the consumer/ s (association, in your case). And, being a HT installation, the servicing and maintenance has to be carried out by a certified class-1 contractor, and the 'compliance report' submitted to the Electrical Inspectorate annually, when they send you the notice. There's a nominal fee for it all, which again you'll have to bear. But, far more is the bribe to be paid, without which the report will never get accepted - the usual places where they catch you are the 'Megger readings in the earth pits', which will never reach satisfactory levels till such times as the demands are complied with (well, part of the 'compliance' procedure, you may say :))) ). Most contractors will handle the job for you, and give you a bill for it all, adding their service charges for the 'special services' too.

Electrical Inspectorate was one of my constant nightmares when I was running my industry - check this.

Yes, it's all totally unfair, since it all adds up to the costs on the consumer. My friend has told me that he has an equitable solution for it all, and he will write up a note on it and send it to me within about a week. And, now that we have Mr Manivannan as the BESCOM MD, we can try getting them to accept it.
 

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