Just weeks before the spate of power cuts hit Sharjah, the electricity provider had asked for special deposits from firms with high usage rates.
"Despite us paying the special deposit, the authorities could not ensure priority of supply. We were forced to pay the 'special deposit' just four days before the recent cuts. We were assured regular supply, but the blackout affected us the same as it did the others," said an official of a leading chain of shopping malls.
"Two months ago, industrial units in Sharjah were promised uninterrupted power after we paid a high amount as special deposit," added Chennai Durai, General Manager of Future Pack.
Industry estimates put the total losses incurred by various companies due to power problem at more than Dh100 million.
Speaking to Emirates 24|7, shopping mall industry officials said they had to rent power generators that cost Dh100,000 per month and require diesel worth Dh20,000 a day. For five days of outage, the bill for diesel alone comes to Dh100,000. There are companies with multiple shopping malls in the emirate. Malls also need to pay Dh5,000 for switching back to normal power supply.
If power cuts continue through the rest of summer, the costs would mount significantly.
Insecure about future supply, some mall managements are considering the option of continuing with generators till at least the end of summer.
Firms such as processing plants, supermarkets and groceries dealing with production and storage of food, especially perishable items such as meats, dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables, have incurred heavy losses due to disruption in power supply. Power supply disruption has also caused loss of crucial bar code data.
“Due to the power failure, we had to engage a powerful generator as part of our business strategy. However, there is no plan yet to take legal action claiming compensation for the losses,” said the spokesman of a leading shopping mall chain.
Legal experts said clients such as mall customers that have incurred financial losses due to power problem can take legal action.
Advocate Shamsuddin K, legal consultant with Al Khaban Advocates said: “If the companies feel that they have incurred heavy financial losses due to disruption of power supply caused by defect in service, they can send a legal notice to the power company claiming compensation for the losses. Depending on the reply, they can either go ahead with the case or drop it.”
But he cautioned that the utility company can defend its stand.
“I don’t think there is any clause in the agreement for power connection that 24-hour power supply can be ensured. It is not a willful default and the defence can argue that the power disruption was caused by unavoidable circumstances. The utility company has already apologised," he added. ©