Call it negligence on the part of the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) or poor maintenance of the power distribution system, consumers across Agartala are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction over the quality of electricity services.

While the controversy over electricity bills continues to haunt TSECL, frequent power cuts caused by recurring technical issues and alleged poor maintenance have also become a routine affair, adding to the woes of consumers.

Frequent and prolonged power cuts have been causing widespread inconvenience to residents in several parts of Agartala, with consumers questioning the maintenance system as well as the effectiveness of the grievance-redressal mechanism of TSECL.

Several areas under the Dukli feeder remained without electricity for nearly seven hours today, from around **6:00 am, leaving residents struggling with routine household activities and other essential work.

The prolonged outage has caused particular concern as half-yearly examinations are currently underway in schools. Students preparing for examinations were forced to cope with prolonged power disruption, affecting their study schedules and creating additional difficulties for families.

Residents said the problem is not limited to today's outage. Frequent power cuts have reportedly become a recurring issue in several areas, raising questions over preventive maintenance of feeders, transformers and other distribution infrastructure.

The situation has also raised concerns over the effectiveness of the 1912 electricity helpline, with consumers alleging that calls and complaints do not always receive an appropriate or timely response. For residents facing prolonged outages, the lack of timely information regarding the cause of the disruption or expected restoration has become an additional source of frustration.

For consumers, the immediate concern remains uninterrupted electricity supply and timely restoration whenever faults occur. Repeated outages, particularly during examination periods, are increasingly being viewed as more than a routine inconvenience.

Residents have urged TSECL to identify recurring technical problems, strengthen preventive maintenance, improve field-level response and ensure that complaints through 1912 are properly attended to.

With electricity being an essential public service, consumers are now seeking greater accountability from the concerned authorities and a permanent solution to recurring power disruptions rather than repeated restoration only after prolonged outages.