CHENNAI: After a brief hiatus, Tangedco again started the drive to verify high-consumption multiple domestic service connections in the same premises and commercial connections on Wednesday leading to arguments between the consumers and the utility’s field officials.

Tangedco has identified about 20,000 domestic electricity connections with a bi-monthly consumption of 4,000 units and field officers will check if the connections need to be merged or moved to the category of common power supply in multi-tenements during the drive. Tangedco will generate an SMS with a seven-day notice link and send it to the consumer, after which the service will be converted to 1-D.

An official noted that the big houses have more than one connection for different portions though the same family uses all of them and they will avail the first 100 units for all connections for free. The exercise aims to curb the usage of over 100 units for free by the same family.

Opining that the TNERC’s (Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission) order has been misinterpreted, the Tangedco former staff and activist Neelakanta Pillai said that there is a risk of tenants in a building losing their government subsidy dues for electricity consumption. “TNERC’s order clearly states that a separate kitchen in a house should be considered a separate dwelling unit even if it is in the same building irrespective of whether the tenant has occupied it or not,” he added.