All’s not well at KSEB grievances forum

KOZHIKODE: The KSEB Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum is the hope for lakhs of consumers to air their grievances and to get justice.

However, all is not well inside the Forum at its Kozhikode unit, according to sources. The Forum, which manages the consumer grievances of six districts in North Kerala, is functioning despite inadequate facilities. Moreover, one of the members of the Forum has raised serious allegations against the Chairperson, accusing him of nepotism and autocracy.

The Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum (CGRF) is a three-member statutory body and functions as the consumer disputes resolution authority.

One of the members is a non-official member appointed by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.  The other two members including the Chairperson are from KSEB.

Adv. K.K Kunhikrishnan, the present Electricity Regulatory Commission-appointed member, has raised serious allegations against Chairperson G.R Vijayakumar, accusing him of not taking the views of other members into consideration and also not giving facilities for consumers and members. “What is happening in the Forum is absolute autocracy. Though I am a member of the forum, the Chairperson never considers my views and most of the time, the fate of cases coming before the Forum are decided by him,” he said.

Presently the Forum is working in an old building with no facilities. Though the office is shifting to a new place, there are no facilities for the members and consumers to sit. “He even rejected my request to put up a board in front of the office for people to understand about the Forum,” the member alleged.