The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 2, 2021
Tata Power’s TP Central Odisha Distribution Ltd. (TPCODL) on Wednesday celebrated the completion of the first year of its successful operations in Odisha. Since its acquisition a year ago, TPCODL has consistently presented sustainable, affordable and innovative energy solutions to its customers in Odisha.
As India’s largest private sector power distribution company, Tata Power currently caters to a customer base of 2.6 million in five circles of Central Odisha and has a total customer base of 9 million across the state. Since its takeover, TPCODL has also replaced 2.6 lakh defective meters. The company focused on preventive and predictive maintenance activities, and improved reliability of power supply.
During this period, the company undertook several customer-centric initiatives such as the setting up of five customer care centers, including two All-Women Customer Care Centres at Cuttack and Puri. Besides this, it also introduced a new bill format for customers, offered cashbacks, allowed paying the bill via e-wallets like Amazon Pay, Paytm or PhonePe and launched the “Pay & Win” contest for customers using other digital payment methods to pay their monthly power bills with zero arrears. These initiatives not only increased the online collection of the bills by 103 % but also indicated a high success rate in resolving customer complaints in the first attempt.
On reaching the one-year milestone, Sanjay Banga, President – T&D, Tata Power, said, “We are extremely thrilled to celebrate our maiden year of the Odisha distribution. Given Tata Power’s track record of success and its expertise in the distribution business, we will continue to stay committed to providing reliable, affordable and quality power supply along with a superior customer service in Odisha.”
“We are glad to celebrate the first anniversary of TPCODL. Despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, we have managed to successfully implement various customer-centric initiatives along with the digital push, making it a very successful and fruitful year. On behalf of the entire TPCODL family, I would like to thank our customers for their co-operation and assure our continued support in the years ahead,” said M. Shenbagam, Chief Executive Officer, TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited.
Additionally, TPCODL also undertook various employee-centric initiatives which involved the direct employment of about 500 individuals and indirect employment of over 8,000 individuals through business associates. It also introduced ‘Gyankosh’, an e-Learning Platform for enhancing employee competency, introduced 10 lakh GPA insurance policy for all business associates as a part of social security, undertook proactive safety measures to ensure a safe workplace for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, offered career growth opportunities to the erstwhile CESU employees through both Horizontal & Vertical movement, digitalized processes like network maintenance, procurement, material management, meter reading, billing including HR and other support .
Besides, TPCODL team introduced technological innovations, including the introduction of Wide Parallel Beam (WPB) poles, which have a higher tensile strength and are low cost compared to the RS Joist pole along with it initiated the study to design a cyclone-resilient network. The company’s Sub-Transmission System Team scheduled grid audits to test all equipment at grid substations and assess their condition and plan for equipment replacement/refurbishment in a phased manner, at all substations – colour coding, systematic sorting and cleanliness drives, initiated the preventive maintenance of 33/11kV structures and lines to enhance the network availability and improve reliability, re-conditioned in-house transformers and undertook theme-based training for over 500 Business Associates. TPCODL has also started GIS, SCADA and customer mapping and claims to make all four discoms Smart Grid-compliant in the next three years.
The company also built a healthy network for the High Transmission (HT) and Low Transmission (LT) lines by starting a monthly review of top 10 tripping feeders and are taking appropriate measures to prevent this in the future.
Quick restoration of power supply post the recent cyclone ‘YAAS’ which left a trail of devastation in its wake in the country’s eastern coast, bringing heavy rains, damaging houses, destroying farmlands and disrupting the electrical network was the testament of TPCODLs commitment of superior customer service. With the continuous monitoring, systematic patrolling of feeders and clearing of network lines, TPCODL was able to restore 70% of the power supply within 8 hours of landfall. TPCODL also ensured 100% power supply to the twin cities (Cuttack and Bhubaneswar) with systematic maintenance of its network. This was possible due to TPCODL’s meticulous and structured approach of Business Continuity & Disaster Management Plan which ensured placement of men, material & tools to tackles in the situation along with good communication & transportation system with defined roles and responsibilities for completion of restoration in the least possible time. The quick restoration was achieved with the guidance of honourable Chief Minister and the outstanding support provided by the entire government due to their rich experience of handling such calamities which helped in overcoming many challenges.
The acquisition of management of CESU in June 2020 followed by WESCO (2 million customers) and SOUTHCO (2.3 million customers) in January 2021 and NESCO (2 million customers) in February 2021, has marked a new milestone for Tata Power. The company’s focus now lies in managing the entire power distribution business of the State with a consumer base of 90 lakh.
