NALGONDA: Though the Supreme Court is yet to decide if Aadhaar card violates an individual’s fundamental right to privacy, the Centre has already asked State governments to link all their services with the 12-digit UID number of citizens. In Telangana, the Electricity Board has taken steps to link the Aadhaar and mobile numbers of individuals with meters. The move, officials say, would help avoid illegal connections.
In the erstwhile Nalgonda district, there are about 13.33 lakh electricity consumers. Of these, 8.29 lakh are domestic and 91,635 are commercial connections. About 4.12 lakh fall in the other connections category. Previously, the officials managed to collect the phone numbers of about 87 per cent consumers in the region. Now, they are focussing on collecting the Aadhaar details too.
“Once the Aadhaar details are collected, we will be able to identify the total number of metres used by an individual or an institution and their power consumption details,” say officials. The Department is also planning to send details of electricity services and bill payment date and details to consumers on their registered mobile number. About 18 to 20 million units of electricity is utilised in the erstwhile district, generating a revenue of `8 to `10 crore for the department.
