A dead street light is usually a contractor in breach. Here's how to find the tender, confirm who was paid to maintain it, and use that paper trail to force a repair.
The street light outside your house has been dead for three months. You've complained twice and nothing happened. What most people don't realise is that the light was almost certainly installed and maintained under a paid contract — a tender your municipal body awarded to a private contractor with public money. If the light doesn't work, the contractor is very likely in breach, and the tender documents that prove it are public records you have a right to see.
This playbook shows you how to find the tender, check who the contractor is, confirm what they were paid to do, and use that paper trail to force a repair.
eprocure.gov.in), state portals (e.g. Maharashtra's Mahatenders, Karnataka's e-Procurement), and often the corporation's own website. Awarded-tender / "Award of Contract" sections list the contractor and value.Don't rely on a phone call. Use your corporation's civic-complaint app or portal (or the ward office register) and get a written complaint/ticket number. Photograph the pole — note the pole number painted on it if there is one, plus the location and date. This ID is your proof that the clock has started under the state service-guarantee timeline.
Search the CPPP (eprocure.gov.in) and your state e-procurement portal for your corporation + "street light" in the Awarded/AOC section. Note the tender ID, contractor name, contract value, work order date, and maintenance period. If you can't find it online, that's fine — Step 4 gets it via RTI.
Check whether your pole falls inside the awarded contract's area and maintenance window. If the maintenance period is still running, the contractor is obligated to fix it — often within a set number of hours per the contract's SLA.
If details aren't public or don't match, file an RTI (Step template below) to the Public Information Officer of your corporation's electrical/street-light department for the work order, contractor details, maintenance SLA, and the payment/penalty record.
Send the fault + the contract reference to the ward engineer and, if unfixed, the corporation's grievance head, quoting the SLA and any penalty clause. A complaint that names the tender, the contractor, and the exact SLA gets a very different response from a generic "light not working" note.
Copy, fill in the [highlighted] bits, and send.
To, The Public Information Officer, [Electrical / Street-Light Dept], [Name of Municipal Corporation/Council]
Subject: Information under the RTI Act, 2005 regarding street-light maintenance at [Location / Pole No.]
Sir/Madam, Under Section 6 of the RTI Act, 2005, kindly provide:
I enclose the ₹10 application fee. If I qualify for BPL exemption, proof is attached.
Name: [Your Name] Address: [Your Address] Date: [Date]
Respected Sir/Madam, complaint [Your Complaint No.] regarding the non-functional street light at [Location / Pole No.] is unresolved since [Date]. As this falls under maintenance contract [Tender ID / Contractor], I request repair within the contract SLA and confirmation of any penalty due. — [Your Name], [Phone]
Yes. Tender notices, the winning bidder's work order, contract value and completion/maintenance records held by a municipal body are public under the RTI Act, 2005. Only genuine trade secrets of losing bidders can be withheld.
Small councils often don't publish online. File an RTI to the Public Information Officer of the corporation's electrical/street-light department for the work order, contractor name and maintenance SLA — they must provide it.
Ask in writing whether the fault is the pole/fixture (corporation/contractor) or the supply (DISCOM), and demand they route it correctly. Getting that classification in writing stops both sides passing the buck.
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