Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Goa Cable TV Networking and Service Providers Association’s failure to pay fees has resulted in an estimated loss of almost Rs 50 crore, according to the Electricity Department.
However, because the issue is currently under judicial review, department officials have also put a halt to their efforts to remove hanging cable cables from their poles.
Last Monday, the Association petitioned the Bombay High Court in Goa for relief from the cable cutting. However, the All Goa ISPs promised to follow the government’s instructions by January 31.
The effort has been put on hold till February 1, according to Executive Engineer (Electricity Department) Kashinath Shetye, who also stated that each violation will be required to pay around Rs 20 lakh and more in past-due payments over a period of two to three years. He claimed that they had not paid the approximately Rs 300 per electrical pole usage fees.
In order to levy fines on cable and internet carriers, we had requested that they submit a list. These operators must also promise that they will be held accountable if a pole falls or someone is shocked by electricity. Each pole has hundreds of wires hanging from it, Shetye continued.
The department’s losses to date total Rs 50 crore. According to Shetye, this estimate was determined using our evaluation of the amount owed by each operator to the department.
“Unlawful cable wire cutting has been halted until February 1.” After that, our Chief Electrical Engineer will make a final decision. Revenue generation and lineman safety are our top priorities. Additionally, we are planning to replace the outdated poles with new ones,” he stated.
In response to a question about whether a longer stay would cause action to be delayed, Shetye said that operators would be held accountable in the event of an unfortunate incident.