An official release said that the Chief Minister also launched an exclusive customer care mobile number 9498794987 through which the consumers can make their complaints and clarify their doubts about the electricity bills. 

The new electricity consumer care centre called Minnagam will function 24x7 with a total of 195 staff (65 staff per shift). “The staff at the consumer care centre will record all the complaints of the consumers online using software which would send WhatsApp alert to the Superintendent Engineer, Executive Engineer, Assistant Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer of the relevant area to take immediate action,” said Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji. 

To act on the complaints at the district level, he said three persons on the basis of one person per shift has been appointed at each of the 44 Superintendent Engineer offices in all the districts, he said, adding that the consumers will get an SMS of the complaint number after registering their complaints. 

“After the complaint was addressed, another SMS will be sent to the consumer mobile number notifying it,” he said, adding that some complaints could be addressed immediately within an hour and some would take time, but all the complaints will be addressed at the earliest. 

Tangedco which did not have an official social media account would have a social media cell to monitor and address the complaints through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram now. 

On former electricity minister P Thangamani denying the charge of no maintenance work carried out in the last nine months of the AIADMK government and the state met a peak demand of 17,121 MW in March without any power cuts, Senthil Balaji said that the former minister did not categorically reply to his charge of non-maintenance during the previous nine months. 

“He is talking about power surplus state and wind power availability, but did not reply to the non-maintenance charge,” he said. 

The Electricity Minister also said that after consulting with the Chief Minister, he would initiate several reform measures in the electricity department with the Tangedco facing a debt of Rs 1.30 lakh crore.