Vision of Life; by Sanjay: MSEDCL, Great Power come with Great Loss!

“With great power comes great responsibility” … Spider Man

“With great power comes a great electricity bill” … Common Man

“With great power comes great loss” … MSEB Employee

Three quotes to start the sharing, you must be wondering but if you read them then they are the version of one quote only just the way in Infinity War (well, it’s a superhero movie) Dr Strange (a superhero) tells to others there are more than a million version of the future, same way first quote is my most favorite rather my philosophy then other two are its versions! By the way the first two quotes have become famous (for a week, at the most) on social media are about hike MSEB i.e., short form for present MSEDCL which is distribution company owned by our Maharashtra State govt for electricity supply in the State while the third quote is my creation for the news I came across recent & which was about heavy losses MSEDCL has made (Rs 74,00 crore) over the years. Ok, for those who doesn’t know what is MSEDCL (fortunate, they are actually) for them, in our State electric power supply’s generation, transmission & distribution is done by companies which are State owned fully & the company which is backbone of it is MSEDCL i.e. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company earlier (popularly) known as MSEB i.e., Maharashtra State Electricity Board. Only difference in this “old stuff in new package” is, now the same stuff comes in three packages i.e., power generation, its transmission & distribution to the consumers, all of which earlier used to be done under one roof now it’s by three separate companies mentioned above respectively!

Now, one will ask what’s so big fuss & use of sharing this knowledge as what difference this all is going to make to us, does it going to reduce our electric bills or installation cost of our electric meters (for builders & commercial users), well, answer is a big “No”! then many of you may ask why should we read further about this MSEDCL thing & losses it has made? The answer to this question is, because if you are an honest electricity consumer (read as paying bills on time without complaining) then these losses will mostly be recovered from your pockets, that’s why you should read about this whole thing named MSEDCL & may be by being aware & making others you can stop this overloading of the losses which you are not party to on our pocket! Now definitely most of you will read ahead with another question in mind, how I am party to the losses made by MSEDCL & how I can avoid it that by reading this sharing? Well, for that you will have to read further as knowledge is the key to most problems, seen & unseen, right? Ok, basic issue is, how MSEDCL made such huge losses when electricity is one of the most essential things in today’s world & its use getting increased every day, how such product can make loss to its makers, is a question even ten-year-old mind can get confronted with, after knowing the business of MSEDCL & I don’t blame ten-year kid as even grownups are wondering about it. Answer to any loss-making business’s problem is simple, either the product is faulty so no one is buying it, or the producer has invested the money from selling the product in some loss-making business or the product is being sold at the price below its making cost, no fourth thing can exist when it’s a business loss & I need not have to be Mukesh bhai or Warren bhai to tell this simple logic! In the case of MSEDCL first reason invalid as electricity is most sought-after product or say in demand but other two reasons are very much in place i.e., the money generated is being used on other fronts which are loss making or not profit oriented & the product i.e., power is sold below its production cost or say the product is being sold but money is not being recovered!

Now again you must be thinking what’s your relation with all this? Well, if you are a MSEDCL consumer means you get electricity from the company & it charges you for the power you consume & if it has got some ten customers along & they also use the electric power by MSEDCL but if only two clients out of the ten clients pay the bills in time & other eight doesn’t, what will happen? The company will go into loss & will shut off its production, right? But this is a State-owned company & its employees are getting salaries even if the company is in loss & production is also must be kept on then what will you do? Simple, recover the cost of eight non-paying customers from the two paying customers, it’s the way govt works in our country & now you will understand the importance of the sharing & your relation to the loss as the eight customers are never going to pay because they have been pardoned by the govt itself & they are farmers, poor people (well, officially), co-operative sugar factories, Gram Panchayats, municipal corporations or Zillah Parishads, govt’s establishments & many such & this list is of legal consumers. Joke is all these consumers does charge their respective consumers again which are residents (barring farmers) of various gram panchayats & cities yet they don’t pay to MSEDCL. And then there are millions of consumers who are actually illegal, like slum dwellers & illegal connections which either are beyond reach of the MSEDCL or are untouchables (with some God Father backing) i.e., the company can’t do anything about it! Bigger joke is, the news said a detailed analysis/ presentation about the losses have been presented in front of entire “Mai Bapp” govt i.e., CM & Ministers & they indeed showed grave concern but, in the end, blamed MSEDCL officers only, for these losses! Wonderful, we give free electricity to agro-pumps means electricity used for watering farms, irrespective of the size & income of the farmer (and use he or she does) & to thousands of govt owned or controlled establishments but govt doesn’t pay MSEDCL for the same, yet blames MSEDCL only, for such losses! And then does this govt give food or such products where electricity has been given free, in subsidized rates to the consumers (read as you & me), again a big NO! Leaving MSEDECL no option to keep hiking rates of the honest consumers to survive!

And the outcome is, the average middle class city consumer in Pune with 2 bhk flat pays approx. Rs 1200 plus, per month bill for his or her 100 sft flat while the farmer (with due respect to farming) owning acres of land pays nothing for every use under the name of agro-pump connection! And the story is the same for slum dwellers which use illegal electricity or never pay the bills yet their connections never get cut! But in case you (common man, middle class) don’t pay one single bill for a month which may be even by mistake of MSEDCL & next month your electric meter is cut & on the top of it you have to pay fine along with numbers of visits to concerned office to get it reconnected is the fact!

If this is story for single domestic consumer then if you are builder or industry the whatever is your load demand there has been norms of getting electric supply for your load demand at affordable cost & yet as MSEDCL doesn’t have funds for infrastructure you have to pay for everything to get electricity to your door from the place where MSEDCL has supply point & it may be Kilometers away from your project or industry & this cost can be in Crores of Rupees but you are an honest customer & you are not having any Godfather behind you, so you have to pay it, this is how you are related to the losses of MSEDCL! Because as per MERC (Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Council) MSEDCL can’t say no to any electric supply demand & has to bare all this infrastructure costs for Transformer, Ring Main Units, HT & LT lines & other necessary equipment including labor costs but MSEDCL doesn’t have money for honest consumers & honest consumer’s project can’t wait till MSEDCL does all the infrastructure in place & the honest consumer can’t afford to make losses the way MSECL can as the honest consumer cant charge its some customers double or multiple times for his failure to make profit from other customers the way MSEDCL can, this is how you are related to the losses MSEDCL is making!

And these losses have not only made the life of genuine & honest consumers miserable but life of MSEDCL employees also worst as in city like Pune which generates nearly Rs 300 plus crore revenue, also gets starved for the funds required for routine maintenance of the infrastructure making power failures & curses of the consumer a ritual for the MSEDCL employees, which are working sincerely for the power supply to its consumers. This is why in the rainy season there is disruption in power supply in the city & MSEDCL staff have to work to keep power supply on by putting their lives in danger in monsoon! And outcome of the losses is more power cuts in rural as no wonder if you call MSEDCL as a company then its job is to serve the good paying city consumers on priority so unpaid rural consumers get more power cuts though no one will accept it on record! And the problem with losses is MSEDCL needs more billing from paying consumers means they won’t promote use of Unconventional Energy such as Solar or Wind by paying city consumers, so there is no load reduction while calculation load demand as well the rebate getting process for electricity saved by Solar power is so tedious that the consumer gives up idea of setting alternate energy source & I don’t blame MSEDCL for this as in their place I would have also done the same. Because, which businessman will provide his good paying consumers address of another manufacturer of the same product at a lesser price, right?

Good news is, MSEDCL has accepted & started giving refund for the infrastructure work done by the developer or any consumer, of course there is, “*conditions apply” tag but it’s a big positive step to start & for real estate industry a big help which needs every single rupee’s support in present situation. And going with current status infrastructure for MSEDCL’s power supply was a big dent which used to vary for Rs 1 lakh & above per meter (flat or unit) taking the overall expense in Crores of Rupees for bigger projects & it’s great saving (hope so)! At the same time by paying service charges the developer or the consumer can ask MSEDCL to get the infrastructure works required for power supply of the project for which again the “*conditions apply” tag is there as it depends on fund flow with the company which in current scenario one can understand. And then there is another option where in case of emergency the consumer or the builder can get the entire work approved by paying just 1.3% supervision charges to MSEDCL & in this case the ownership of this set up remains with the consumer forever!

With due respect to all poor farmers & such category, I am not saying, don’t help them & indeed that’s job of the govt only, to support them by giving them free electric supply but all the honest consumers are also voters & citizens of this very State only & they also contribute in the revenue of the State only by their input in respective form, this also the govt must not forget while trying to burden us with other’s consumption of electricity! And why even the MSEDCL has to accept losses (read as along with its paying consumers) which are caused by the policies of the govt, is the question everybody must ask now! There are many good officers in MSEDCL & its allied companies & they have the ability to keep this ship on course even in turbulent seas. The problem is with the owner of the ship i.e., Mai Bapp govt! And problem is, with all the honest consumers of MSEDCL who pays their bills on time as high time they should ask why they are being burdened with all other non -paying consumer’s weight which the owner i.e., the govt only has thrown on them or else one day the ship will be sunk along with the crew & the passengers & all that will be left is endless sea of loss!

Sanjay Deshpande,

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/01/post-lock-down-real-estate-home-buying.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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