Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Jan 2: The Goa Electricity Department (GED) is likely to issue a fresh public notice granting consumers additional time to relocate their electricity meters outdoors to ensure easy access for meter readers.

Earlier, the department had warned that electricity connections would be disconnected if meters were not shifted outside. However, the state government has now decided to provide more time before initiating such stringent action.

A senior GED official said that a new deadline would be announced shortly. “A fresh public notice is expected to be issued soon,” the official said.

When the earlier deadline ended in November last year, nearly 65 per cent of the 38,000 consumers whose meters were found to be installed indoors and inaccessible had not complied with the directive. Following this, senior GED officials had contemplated initiating the process of disconnecting power supply to non-compliant consumers. However, sources said the government intervened and instructed the department to put the action on hold.

The first notices asking consumers to shift their electricity meters outside were issued in May last year, granting a six-month compliance period that ended on November 28. During this period, Chief Electrical Engineer Stephen Fernandes had issued multiple public notices warning that failure to relocate meters would invite penal action, including disconnection of electricity supply under provisions of the Electricity Act.