REC Limited has unveiled the third edition of the consumer services rating of discoms (CSRD) for fiscal year 2022-23. This initiative is designed to empower discoms by enabling them to assess their performance across various service parameters, benchmark against peer discoms and take corrective actions where necessary.
The report provides valuable insights aimed at narrowing the gap between service delivery and consumer satisfaction. By shedding light on discoms’ endeavours to enhance consumer services, it will contribute to fostering innovation, improving infrastructure and promoting an efficient power distribution mechanism, ultimately leading to higher levels of consumer satisfaction.
In CSRD 2023, 62 discoms (10 private, 52 state-owned), serving 324 million consumers, were evaluated. Each discom received grades based on a predefined methodolgy and were categorised into urban and rural segments based on their consumer distribution. As per the report, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) and Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) have received the highest grade, that is, “A+”. Notably, an overall positive trend has been observed with an increase in the number of discoms securing higher grades and a decrease in those receiving lower grades, thus reflecting a significant enhancement in consumer service nationwide.
Key parameters
The CSRD evaluates discom performance across four key parameters critical for improving consumer services – operational reliability (OR); connection and other services (CoS); metering, billing and collection-linked services; and fault rectification and grievance redressal (FRGR). Operational reliability, with a weightage of 45 per cent, assesses the reliability of electricity supply based on factors such as hours of supply (HoS) system average interruption frequency index, and distribution transformer (DT) failure rate. Consumer service, with a weightage of 55 per cent, encompasses various aspects such as connection services (10 marks); metering, billing and collection-linked services (35 marks); and FRGR (10 marks). This higher weightage reflects the importance of these parameters from the co sumer’s perspective.
Operational reliability: This parameter assesses the discoms’ effectiveness in providing uninterrupted power to consumers. Lower reliability can lead to decreased customer satisfaction, revenue loss, and higher operational costs. OR includes sub-parameters such as HoS, interruption index and distribution transformer (DT) failure rate across rural, urban and industrial consumers. Urban discoms such as AEML, A&N PD, BRPL, TPDDL, BYPL and BEST provide 24-hour supply.
Further, 42 discoms across 23 states/UTs have exceeded the national average HoS of 23.59 hours, while 35 discoms in rural areas have exceeded the national average of 21.26 hours. Leading discoms in DT failure rate (less than 1 per cent in fiscal year 2022-23) include TPCL, BRPL, AEML, BEST, BYPL, TPDDL and MSPOC.
Out of the 324 million consumers, 149 million (46 per cent) have experienced “A+” grade in operational reliabilty services and are served by 23 discoms. On the contrary, discoms graded “C” and “D” in the OR parameter cumulatively serve 5 per cent of the overall consumers, indicating the consumer base received inferior level of OR services.
Connection and other services: This parameter measures time, convenience and effort required by the consumer in availing a new connection from the discoms. It also assesses the extent of technology enablement in application processing and renewable energy adoption among the consumers (prosumers). It aims at bringing uniformity by alignment of timelines in standard operating procedure regulations and predetermined demand charges for connections up to 150 kW vis-a-vis industry best practices.
As per the CSRD report, the discoms lagging in aligning to industry best practices are JPDCL, JBVNL, Sikkim PD, TPCL and Arunachal PD. However, all the discoms have adhered to the notification of predetermined demand charges for connections up to 150 kW, except Arunachal PD and A&N PD. There are 45 discoms with 100 per cent online application processing. Further, 15 discoms have adhered to the hybrid model (manual and online mode).
Out of the total consumers, under the CoS parameter, 18 per cent consumers are served by 12 discoms with “A+” grade and 12 per cent are served by six discoms experiencing “D” grade services. Considering “A+” and “A” graded discoms as the benchmark performers, it may be inferred that 68 per cent of the overall consumers received superior levels of CoS.
Metering, billing and collection: This parameter focuses on three critical streams of discom operations: collecting 
meter data, generating/issuing bills and revenue collection. Herein, discoms are assessed across nine sub-parameters covering some crucial aspects such as the time taken to replace defective meters, billing accuracy, modes of meter reading, billing frequency, quantum of bills generated, billing updates to consumers, prepaid consumers, tariff categories and consumers paying digitally. The leading discoms MPMKVVCL, TPWODL and BESCOM are able to replace defective meters within 24 hours in urban areas while four discoms, namely GESCOM, Arunachal PD, BESCOM and BRPL, can replace defective meters within two days in rural areas.
Further, BYPL has 100 per cent bills generated based on non-manual meter reading. The billing frequency for domestic category consumers is monthly for 51 discoms, bi-monthly for four discoms and multiple billing cycles in seven discoms. Further, MSPDCL has reported the highest proportion of prepaid consumers with 86 per cent.
Fault rectification and grievance redressal: FRGR includes parameters that ensure adequate recording and timely resolution of consumer complaints across discoms, focusing on consumer connect through the complaint resolution process. All discoms have established 24X7 customer call centres for registering/resolving consumer grievances, except five: BEST, CED, Ladakh PDD, Mizoram PD and Sikkim PD.
There are eight discoms with average customer wait time (ACWT) less than 5 seconds, namely, TPCL, PVVNL, BYPL, AVVNL, MSEDCL, MPPoKVVCL, MPPoKWCL and MGVCL. There are 21 discoms with ACWT greater than the national average (21.47 seconds). There are 13 discoms with 100 per cent reporting of outage alerts on mobile. There are six discoms reporting no outage alerts to consumers, namely, JPDCL, HPSEBL, TSECL, Ladakh PDD, Mizoram PD and Sikkim PD.
Out of the 324 million consumers, 125 million (38.6 per cent) are served by 17 discoms while 7.1 million (2.2 per cent) are experiencing “D” grade FRGR services. Considering “A+” and “A” graded discoms as the benchmark performers, it is evident that about 72 per cent of the overall consumers receive superior FRGR services. Discoms graded “C” and “D” under FRGR, cumulatively serving 11.8 per cent of the overall consumers, indicate a significant consumer base experiencing inferior FRGR services.
Overall rating
Out of the 62 discoms that have been rated, four have secured the highest grade “A+”, while 19 have secured the average grade “B”. Further, one discom has received the lowest grade “D”. Of the four discoms that have secured “A+” grade, three (BRPL, BYPL and TPDDL) are purely urban and one NPCL, has a largely urban consumer base. The maximum concentration (42 discoms) is visible across the “B+” and “B” grade. No private discom has secured a grade lower than “B”. Amongst the state-owned discoms, only one has secured the lowest grade.
An improvement in performance has been observed in the number of discoms securing higher grades and the consumers receiving these services, indicating a positive outlook at the national level. Considering the far end of the grade scale, improvement has also been observed with a reduction in the number of discoms and consumers across the lower grades.
Only one discom, NPCL, has achieved an “A+” grade across all four key parameters. It can be observed that there has been an increase in the proportion of discoms securing higher grades (A+/A) and a decrease in those securing lower grades (C/D) annually. The majority of discoms fall within the “B+/B/C+” category. The number of discoms obtaining “A+/A” grade went up from seven in 2021 to 12 in 2023, and those obtaining “B+/B/C+” grade increased from 41 during 2021 and 2022 to 46 in 2023. Conversely, there was a decline in the number of discoms securing the lowest grades, dropping from 12 in 2021 to four in 2023. This indicates a notable improvement in discoms’ consumer service over the years, with a 33.33 per cent decrease from 2021 to 2022 and a larger 50 per cent decrease from 2022 to 2023 in discoms receiving lower grades. Over the past three years, BYPL (Delhi), BRPL (Delhi), TPDDL (Delhi), TSSPDCL (Telangana) and APSPDCL (Andhra Pradesh) have consistently achieved top grades (A+/A). Meanwhile, apart from three discoms (JPDCL & KPDCL in Jammu & Kashmir and JBVNL in Jharkhand), no other discom has consistently obtained “C/D” grades from financial year 2021-23.
Conclusion
In sum, the CSRD report has been pivotal in evaluating discom performance on crucial consumer service parameters, promoting transparency, accountability and consumer-centricity in the power distribution sector. While the second edition prompted progressive measures, the third edition aims for further enhancements. While some discoms have shown improvement, others too must refine their operational practices for betterment. As the power distribution landscape evolves, discoms must adapt to rising consumer expectations. Future editions of the CSRD report will likely see improvements aimed at ensuring comprehensiveness and relevance, policy alignment, and fostering collaboration.
Aastha Sharma