A Study on Utilization of Electricity Services by Consumers of Ludhiana District

Abstract Electricity is an essential requirement for all facets of our life. It has been recognized as a basic human need. It is a critical infrastructure on which the socio-economic development of the country depends. This paper focused on the electricity services provided to rural and urban consumers of Ludhiana district. The awareness level of consumers regarding these services and their utilization was assessed. The paper also emphasised the problems faced by the consumers regarding electricity services and actions taken by them for resolving these problems. For rural sample two villages were randomly selected from block one and for urban sample two localities were randomly selected from Ludhiana city. Sixty respondents each from rural and urban areas were taken, thus making the total sample size of 120. Data were collected through interview schedule. Result revealed that urban respondents were more aware of services like facility of Suwidha Kendra, on the spot issuing of bills, easy bill machines, rates of units charged etc. However rural respondents were aware of the provision of free electricity for tube wells. While utilizing these services more rural respondents were facing problems such as frequent power cuts, voltage fluctuation, poor maintenance of cables, delay in attending complaints etc. But when it comes to actions for redressal of grievances very few respondents were making complaints to the concerned authority.