Ludhiana, May 24 -- Field staff of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited have resisted the rollout of departmental smartphones for linemen and other employees, asserting that long-pending safety kits and tools and plants (T&P) equipment should take precedence over what unions described as a surveillance-based monitoring system.

The issue has triggered fresh unrest within the power utility after PSPCL initiated the deployment of official smartphones for field employees as part of a digital complaint handling and monitoring mechanism. Under the proposed system, consumer complaints would be routed directly to the official mobile phones of linemen and other field staff, requiring them to attend complaints, carry out repairs, and upload phot...