The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘CFL’ agents take consumers for a ride

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Friday, Aug 01, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘CFL’ agents take consumers for a ride

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: It is happening again. Fraudsters, posing as Bangalore Electricity Supply Company agents, are selling compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to unsuspecting consumers.

On Wednesday afternoon, four people turned up at the flat of Mythri Gopalaswamy (name changed) at Palace Guttahalli saying the Government was offering CFLs at a subsidised rate in a bid to save energy. “I was getting ready to leave for work; my parents were having lunch. So my uncle who stays in the opposite flat talked to them,” she said.

She said that the men told her uncle that the Government was giving every household 12 free CFLs.

“There are six flats in my building; all occupied by my extended family. My uncle, on behalf of all of us, was speaking to the supposed BESCOM officials. They did not offer to show us any identity card and neither did we think of asking them for it,” she said.

Ms. Gopalaswamy said the “officials” claimed that the Government was offering senior citizens 24 CFLs free of cost, whereas the market price of each CFL was Rs. 240.

“They said they would give us 72 CFLs — for all the six flats — at just Rs. 7,200. My uncle paid them the money and they left all the bulbs in our flat and asked us to count them, while they stepped out to get the receipt. By the time my uncle wore his footwear and went down for them, they had left,” she said.

She said that the “officials” had given them 68 CFLs. “We have not checked if all the CFLs are working.

They told us that the money would be deducted from our monthly electricity bills. We are thinking of filing a complaint with the police,” she added.

Satyaprema Kumar, BESCOM spokesperson, warned other consumers to be wary of such people. “We have received such complaints in the past. We have since been issuing advertisements in the newspapers.”

He said the power utility had launched BESCOM Efficient Lighting Program (BELP) to help consumers save energy.

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