Amidst the fight against illegal commercialisation of residential areas, in the last three years (FY 2020–21 to 2022–23) the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) has collected over ₹8.49 crore in penalty from a total of 3,232 cases of consumers using domestic meters (L1 and L2) for commercial purposes.
According to officials, domestic meters are usually misused by consumers for small-scale commercial purposes. “Some people convert a portion of their house, like a shed or a garage, into small shops and use the same meter. Others set up day creches or playhomes. In some rare cases, people use it for construction purposes too,” a Bescom official said.
While 541 such cases were booked in 2020-21, the number jumped to 1,536 in 2022-23. A senior Bescom official said that this rise can be attributed to the resumption of commercial activities in the post-pandemic times.
“For almost two years, commercial activities were shut down. But as they resumed, the number of violations also increased,” he said.
Citizens allege that electricity infrastructure is getting affected by such usage, causing inconvenience to others. “In residential areas where there should ideally be around three housing units in a building, nine units are coming up with builders setting up ground plus four floors, especially for paying guest (PG) purposes. Imagine the amount of drainage of resources, including electricity and water, from such extra units,” said Zahid Javali, a resident of HSR Layout.
Some citizen activists also mentioned that just cracking down on the illegal use of domestic meters will not yield larger results unless the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which issues trade licences, works in tandem with Bescom.
“Bescom does not care if it is a residential zone. They would still give commercial meters to those who wish to convert. However, the larger issue is that the civic bodies do not talk to each other. There should be a comprehensive regulation to ensure that illegal commercial activities are not legitimised,” said Sneha Nandihal from I Change Indiranagar.
Commercialisation does not have to be just pubs and bars to cause inconvenience, say residents. “The BBMP is violating its own rule about not issuing trade licences on roads less than 40 feet in width. Not just breweries and restaurants, but we have recently seen the rise of these early morning/midnight biryani establishments which disturb the residents,” said K. Ramesh, president, Bengaluru South Citizens’ Forum.
Bescom creates awareness to stop tariff theft
Bescom officials said along with the creation of awareness among the public to forbid themselves from using domestic meters for commercial purposes, the vigilance teams of Bescom inspect installations in different divisions on a random basis. Further, to crack down on such offenders, Bescom also conducts mass raids on a weekly basis and initiates legal proceedings, officials said.
After registering cases, Bescom usually disconnects power and issues notices to the consumers to get their meters converted to LT 3, along with the levying of penalties.
