Consumer Connect

Henry Ross Perot, the famous American businessman had once said "Spend a lot of time talking to customers face to face. You'd be amazed how many companies don't listen to their customers". We, at CESC strongly believe that listening to our Consumers is the one single most important tool available to us to improve on our services.

One of the primary among them are the regular Consumer meets at regional offices where senior officials from CESC, interact with Consumers and understand their concerns. The background from this comes from the strong belief that if we interact with our Consumers regularly, there is very little chance that we will go wrong. Customer Meets are also organised at their localities itself in collaboration with Local Clubs and Housing Complex Associations.

Over the years, our Customer Meets have been attended by eminent personalities from the cultural and education strata of Kolkata like Mr Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay, writer, Ms. Bratati Bandopadhyay, elocutionist, Mr Tejendra Narayan Majumder, musician, Ms Srabonti Chatterjee, actor, Ms Nirmala Mishra, singer, Mr Gurbax Singh, sports personality, Mr Sanjib Chattopadhyay, writer, Dr. Ms. Dipannita Hazari, doctor, eminent business organizations and clubs like VLCC Health Care Ltd, Oriental Bank Of Commerce, Tata Tele Services Ltd, Dalhousie Institute, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Arsalan Restaurant and Caterer, St. Xavier's College, Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, Kaya Skin Care Ltd, Webel Mediatronics Ltd, Haldiram Bhujiawala Limited, etc.

Post-pandemic, these Customer Meets are also being organised Online and sessions on Fire and Electrical Safety, Digital Initiatives and Sustainability are conducted.

Through all these consumer meets, we not only understood and addressed our consumer's concerns and queries; we also received valuable suggestions from consumers on how to improve our services further.

Customer service is an attitude that is engraved in our hearts. These Consumer meets are one of the ways to reach out to our consumers and thank them for patronizing us for more than a century.

Technical Workshops are conducted by Customer Relations Department of CESC Limited, for its High Tension Consumers.

The purpose of organizing the HT Technical Workshop was to share knowledge with Consumers and to educate them about CESC's best practices and experience on different technical areas.

Adjusting to the Pandemic situation, the Workshop was conducted on a virtual platform. Comprehensive and detailed presentations on the topics - Cables & Cable Jointing, System Operations and Transformers & Switchgear are made by Officers of CESC. After each session, queries from Consumers are also addressed.

Electrical and Fire Safety Workshops are organized for Electricians in view of Durga Puja & festive season, by the Customer Relations Department in association with the Safety and Risk & Disaster Management Cell.

Electricians, Consumers and other Stakeholders are informed about the Workshop through a social media post across the various social media handles of CESC Limited, as well as through Emailer & SMS.

A special Workshop on safety is also held for our HT Consumers.

The purpose of organizing the Electrical and Fire Safety Workshop is to spread safety awareness amidst everyone and to educate the Electricians about the best practices to reduce fire risks and the necessary measures to be taken in the event of a fire. Several electrical safety tips for the prevention of electrical hazards are also shared.

Adjusting to the Pandemic situation, the Workshops are also conducted on virtual platforms. Comprehensive & detailed Presentations on the topics are shared by Officers of Safety and Risk & Disaster Management Cell.

We at CESC have been continuously focusing on Customer Centric Initiatives and have introduced a host of Web & e-Services. To increase awareness about our services and to meet our consumers personally, we reach out to our consumers by participating in Fairs and Festivals which happen in our service area.

Over the years, we have participated in events like The International Kolkata Book Fair, CII Energy Conclave, International Mega Trade Fair, Kreta Suraksha Mela organized by the Consumer Affairs Department of the Government of West Bengal, National Medical College Alumni Meet. During festivals like Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Jagaddhatri Puja, Park Street Christmas Carnival, Kalpataru Utsav- Dakshineswar, we marked our presence by setting up stalls and being a part of our consumer's celebration.

At the International Kolkata Book Fair Stall we spread awareness on our sustainability initiatives by promoting Electric Vehicle & Electric Cooking to ensure a better planet for the people.

The unique feature of these stalls lie with the fact that they have complaint redressal facilities to solve consumer complaints and queries on the spot. To encourage consumers to make use of online payments, practice conservation of energy & follow safety norms, we distribute booklets and handbooks to our visitors. Through these stalls we also give an opportunity to our visitors to provide us their contact information to avail our SMS and email facilities.

Along with creating value for our consumers, we believe in educating and raising awareness about energy conservation and safety. We ensure to provide support round the clock which results in not only happy consumers but also delighted loyal consumers.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"- Nelson Mandela'. We at CESC believe that educating the young generation can be a very powerful tool for bringing a change from the perspective of conservation and electrical safety.

With this belief, we conduct workshops on "Safety and Conversation of Energy" in hundred schools in and around Kolkata every year. These workshops which are held in association with The Telegraph in School (TTIS) are welcomed with robust support from the teachers and incredible enthusiasm of students.

We also conduct these Workshops at various Madrasahs across the city. From knowledge about how electricity is produced and distributed to every household and industry to electrical safety and conservation of energy, these workshops are educative and interactive. Usually students from class VI to XII and most of the time their teachers attend these workshops with keen interest. A dedicated team of expert CESC officials visited schools to present the workshops.

We are encouraged by the enthusiastic participation and the co-operation of the school authorities which we receive every year. We are committed to helping our Consumers in every way possible. This initiative is a humble effort to not only connect with our Consumers but also spread awareness about electrical safety and conservation among our future Consumers.

We at CESC Limited believe in reaching out to our Consumers in every possible way. This section elaborates the various efforts taken by us to come closer to our Consumers

There is no better time to experience Kolkata than being a part of its Durga Puja Festival. Celebrations which have grown to become the hallmark of Kolkata, Durga Puja sees numerous colorful pandals sprouting up in this city. Puja pandals in Kolkata have spread the magic of its creativity and hard work with their unique designs, decorations and themes. To make this celebration more gratifying and delightful, CESC Limited organizes 'True Spirit Puja' in association with The Telegraph every year. Unlike any other award during Durga Puja, 'True Spirit Puja' recognizes pandals which have the best safety and security arrangements. Keeping in tune with CESC's emphasis on electrical safety, this award has been designed in a unique manner.

True Spirit Puja is not just a competition about winners or losers but about a higher purpose - to make Durga Puja safe, happy, meaningful and devoid of any hazard. To be a part of the 'CESC True Spirit Puja' Durga Puja organizing clubs have to fill an entry form printed in The Telegraph, the leading English daily and Anandbazar Patrika, the leading Bengali daily of Eastern India. Participants are shortlisted on the basis of information provided by them which is assessed by our assessment panels comprising of dignitaries from CESC Limited and The Telegraph as decided every year. Shortlisted clubs receive True Spirit Signages which are displayed near selected puja pandals throughout the four days of the festivities.

Assessment of puja pandals is done on the basis of three key parameters safety measures, civic consciousness and social commitments. Some mandatory actions like precautionary measures for fire and electricity, extra efficiency in crowd management and traffic control, efficiency in waste management plays vital role in assessment. Bonus points can be earned by a puja pandal by taking extra care in areas like non usage of plastics, eco-friendliness, encouraging green movement, conserving energy. These parameters are specially taken into consideration to encourage social responsibility among puja clubs.

Based on all the above parameters, each finalist is judged by our eminent panel of judges. The best puja of each year wins the title of “True Spirit Model Puja”. The next two best pujas are awarded '5 Star Puja' titles, the next three, '4 Star Puja' titles, next ten '3 Star Puja' titles, and finally the next ten as '2 Star Puja' titles. Each winner is awarded cash prize which is distributed through a very well organized prize distribution ceremony. Celebrity judges and CESC senior leadership grace the occasion and distribute the prizes.

CESC as a part of connecting with their present and future Consumers, organized a quiz contest for students and aptly named the contest CESC Power Quiz. This initiative was a part of their all-round effort to come closer to their Consumers. Ace Quiz Master Mr Barry O'Brien wholeheartedly conducted all the rounds taking the standard of the quiz and the questions to a different level.

The quiz was planned as a four round quiz where the first round was to be played online by participating teams. Any two students from the same school, studying in class IX to XII could form a team and participate in the quiz. A brilliant online quiz application developed by the CESC CIS team was hosted on the CESC website through which teams could answer a simple round of 10 questions. Multiple teams from 67 schools participated in the preliminary round from which, 40 teams from 31 schools were shortlisted to participate in the quarter finals. 12 top teams from the Quarter Finals fought out the battle of knowledge in the Semi Finals from which the top 6 teams qualified for the finals.

Don Bosco Park Circus, South Point High School, Garden High School, National Gems High School, Chandernagar Kanailal Vidyamandir and G. D. Birla Centre for Education were the top 6 teams who fought out an incredible battle at the finals. Quiz Master Mr Barry O'Brien mesmerized the audience and the participants with his experience, charm and wisdom. All the participants were exceptionally brilliant and gave their best shot in proving their merit. The questions targeted at the audience were met with enormous enthusiasm not only for the chocolates received as a prize but also for the sheer brilliance of the questions. Attractive prize money was handed over to the winners and runners up for their stupendous performance.

Throughout the contest period, the program was covered in The Telegraph, Ananda Bazar Patrika and the supplementary papers. It was also popularized through Friends FM and last but not the least through ABP Ananda where the program clippings were telecasted.

Weeks of planning reflected in the way the entire event was executed. It was a fulfilling exercise from the branding point of view. Accolades and acknowledgement were received from parents, students and audiences alike. The feedback received throughout the contest period has encouraged CESC to plan more such events in the future.