Grievance redressal system buckling under strain of complaints

It's the middle of summer. After an exhausting and extracting day, you go to bed craving a good night's sleep. No sooner does your head hit the pillow, than the electricity goes off!

- Anupam Srivastava

LUCKNOW:

You hope that it will return soon but after half-an-hour of swatting mosquitoes, you decide to call the power station. If you're lucky, only then will the Madhyanchal or UPPCL helpline answer your call. Most times, the line stays engaged. And even if it does connect, it takes a few tries and 7 to 8 minutes before someone responds.

When they finally do, they simply take note of your complaint and promise to forward it to the concerned SDO. There's rarely any follow-up or assurance of resolution. The system often feels inefficient and unreliable for genuine grievances.

No wonder over 42,000 cases reported to 1912 from 2017 to May 21 remain unresolved.

Rising complaint numbers On May 21, 2025, the helpline received 30,860 complaints by 2 PM, with 14,562 still pending resolution. This indicates that over 1,200 power-related issues were reported every hour, underscoring the strain on the state's power infrastructure. In the MVVNL region alone, 8,908 complaints were logged, with 3,393 unresolved, reflecting a 38% backlog for the day.