BEST Issues Guidelines For Ganeshotsav Temporary Power Connections In Mumbai
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) has issued detailed guidelines for public Ganeshotsav mandals seeking temporary electricity connections for their pandals in Mumbai. The regulations cover application procedures, mandatory safety clearances, security deposits, connection charges, and concessional power tariffs.
BEST has set up facilitation desks across all its Customer Service departments to assist festival organisers with their applications. Mandals can register online through the BEST website and submit a printed copy alongside required documents and signed undertakings at their concerned Customer Service department.
Applications must include the mandal's name, complete address, required power duration, contact details of the authorized representative, and the mandal's bank account information. Organisers must also submit a form for security deposit refunds through NEFT and an undertaking taking responsibility for pandal safety. After adjusting actual electricity consumption, BEST will refund remaining deposits via NEFT within one month, or via cheque or demand draft within 90 days if the NEFT form is not provided.
Mandals erecting pandals on private land or housing society premises must obtain permission from the respective landowner or society, along with clearance from the Electrical Inspector. Pandals erected on roads or footpaths require a No-Objection Certificate from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in line with a June 24, 2015 Bombay High Court order, as well as clearance from the local police station.
To ensure electrical safety, mandals must have their total power load assessed by a licensed electrical contractor and submit a testing report along with an Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker testing report. BEST specified that all wiring must meet Indian Electricity Rules, have adequate capacity, and must not be laid directly on the ground or tied around streetlight poles.
Application fees have been fixed at Rs 90 for a single-phase connection and Rs 145 for a three-phase connection. Where infrastructure is already available, connection fees will be Rs 150 for single-phase and Rs 200 for three-phase supply. Meter deposits are set at Rs 3,500 for single-phase meters, Rs 4,700 for three-phase meters up to 60 kW, and Rs 10,500 for CT meters above 60 kW.
BEST stated that temporary connections will be billed under the concessional residential-category tariff approved by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. Under this tariff, energy charges range from Rs 2.02 per unit for consumption up to 100 units to Rs 11.25 per unit for consumption above 500 units, with a uniform wheeling charge of Rs 1.82 per unit across all slabs.
