CHENNAI: Irritated by the night time power outage on Thursday, some of the consumers took to social media to complain saying that the ‘Minnagam’ helpline number 1912 could not be reached while a few took to the streets to protest at Manali, Madhavaram and KK Nagar.

Several consumers complained that their calls made to the local TANGEDCO officials and offices went unanswered.

Some of them complained that they got a reply from TANGEDCO's minnagam helpline number saying that the number is switched off.

Many consumers wondered why TANGEDCO stopped sending SMS alerts on the power outage and indicative time of power restoration.

VS Jayaraman of T Nagar Residents' Welfare Association has written to TANGEDCO CMD Rajesh Lakhani to restore the service of sending SMS to the consumers where there is power disruption or tripping.

"Earlier whenever the power supply gets disrupted, or even during sudden tripping, the Tangedco sends an SMS to the consumers stating that the power will be restored within a specified time. This service seems to have been given a go by Tangedco with the result the consumers are forced to draw their conclusions. While the restoration of the power supply will alone provide relief to the consumers, the SMS will keep them in the loop. In the absence of SMS, the consumers rush to contact officials, who will either remain incommunicado, or, do not answer the calls, " he said.

He noted that when TANGEDCO could send SMS for payment of bi-monthly bills, what prevents it from sending SMS during power disruption?