TNERC urged to make RCD mandatory for common services and public parks

TNERC urged to mandate RCD installation in apartments, group houses, and public parks for safety against electrocution.

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) should make the installation of Residual Current Device (RCD) mandatory for all common services in apartments and group houses and also public parks, said the Coimbatore Consumer Cause.

In a memorandum to the TNERC, K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of the consumer organisation said RCDs should be compulsorily installed at electrical connections to play grounds maintained by local bodies, public parks, and common services of gated communities, group houses, and apartments.

Two children, aged six and eight, died recently in Coimbatore because of electrocution when they were playing in the children play area in their gated community. Similarly, in April 2022, a 10-year-old-boy died in an apartment due to electrocution in Coimbatore.

The TNERC made RCD mandatory for all new electricity connections since December 2020. Since, it is not a must for the service connections given before that, several buildings still do not have RCDs. Two years later, in 2022, the TNERC advised all service connections - domestic, commercial, educational, retail, farm houses, and industrial, to instal RCDs for the safety of lives.

Yet, significant number of people are unaware of RCDs and their benefits and hence, have not installed them.

To start with, the TNERC should make RCD mandatory for all old connections of common services and public parks and play areas, he said.