Voting machine snag due to excessive light: EC
New Delhi, June 8: A number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunctioned in two places in the recent bypolls due to "excessive exposure to illumination", the Election Commission (EC) said on Friday.
The EC had formed two special teams to look into the unusually high number of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines malfunctioning in Uttar Pradesh's Kairana and Maharashtra's Bhandara-Gondiya on May 28.
The preliminary report found two major technical reasons for the malfunctioning -- failure of contrast sensor and failure of the length sensor.
"These errors are mainly caused by excessive exposure to illumination in the polling stations," the EC said, citing the preliminary report submitted by the probing teams.
The EC has now asked the manufacturers to do a detailed technical analysis once the VVPATs are free from election petition -- the 45-day period after election when EVMs and VVPATs have to be mandatorily kept in the strong rooms.
"The commission has asked the manufacturers and the technical expert committee (TEC) to suggest additional design improvements as well as suggestions on any layout changes in the polling stations to prevent any excessive exposure to illumination in future," the poll panel said.
"The commission has also adopted the hardware improvement recommended by the TEC to prevent auto shut down of VVPATs due to excessive light," it added.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
