HYDERABAD, March 15: The new Hesco chief, Brig Tariq Arshad, has held out an assurance that no power consumer will be insulted by any Hesco official.

Speaking at his first news conference at the conference hall of the Wapda colony here on Friday, he said that in army, he was a commander of a formation but in Hesco he was the servant of the consumers. He added that he still carried the stick of the commander and will see to it that the consumers received fair treatment.

Mr Arshad said improvements in the working of Hesco will be witnessed by the people not in months but in weeks.

He said that he was shocked to observe that a large number of grid stations were without telephone connections which was unthinkable as information about any power interruption could not be conveyed immediately without telephone.

He announced that the establishment of a customer service centre at each sub-division where the problems of consumers will be received and they will be saved from running from one office to the other.

He said that all that the consumer will have to do was to give a application at the customers service centre where he will be given a receipt with a definite date for the communication of final decision to him.

He said that the bills will also be corrected at this centre and customers will not be referred to the RO, XEN or the SE.

He said regional customers service centres will also be established where a customer of any district will be able to get his bill.

He made it clear that no fictitious bills will be issued and the practice of issuing wrong bills will be curbed with an iron hand.

The Hesco chief said that he had already stopped the issuance of average bills and added if necessary, average bills will only be issued through the computer according to the approved formula.

He said that no official will be allowed to present the excuse of shortage of equipment as the godowns were filled with equipments.

He said that to meet any emergency, breakdown or interruption in power supply, surplus transformers will be made available at the sub- divisions, 30 mobile trolleys will be made available in case a transformer was damaged and telephone connections will be installed at each grid station.

About new connections, he said that on receipt of application, a demand note will be issued in 15 days and the power connection will be provided in the next 15 days of depositing the demand note amount if it was feasible in the system.

In case of a defective general transformer, he said that it will be replaced at the company’s cost.

He said that the bill distribution system was also being streamlined and the consumer will receive the bill at his residence or place of business and not through the Pesh Imams as was the practice.

Brig Tariq Arshad also assured that if any mechanical fault developed in the meter of a domestic consumer, it will be replaced at the company’s cost.