Delhi: Power discoms seek clarification on disbursal of subsidy to consumers

Earlier this month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that subsidy will be given to only those consumers who will demand it.

He said that consumers who apply for subsidy up to October 31 will be provided subsidy for the month of October.

The option to get Delhi government’s power subsidy will no longer be available by default and every year with this move and the power consumers will be given an option to continue with power subsidy or not.

Currently, Delhiites whose power consumption for people using less than 200 units do not have to pay any electricity charges, while whose consumption is up to 400 units get a 50 per cent subsidy. The CM said around ₹3,000 crore is spent on subsidy by the government

However, sources said that discoms do not follow month-wise billing cycles. “The billing of power consumption starts from the date a new connection is energised. So it is different for consumers. Supposedly, if a consumer starts consumption of power after getting connection from 25th of a month, his bill will be generated for a period up to 25th of next month,” said a source.

Kejriwal had said that those consumers who do not apply for subsidy will not get it. However, they will start getting it if they apply for it again, he said.

According to official figures, there are 58 lakh power connections in Delhi and about 47 lakh of these enjoy subsidy.

Officials said that so far more than 22 lakh domestic consumers have applied for subsidy. The process for subsidy application had started on September 14.

Under the Kejriwal government’s scheme, domestic power consumers get 100 per cent subsidy if their monthly usage is up to 200 units.

Those whose monthly consumption is from 201 units to 400 units get 50 per cent subsidy.

(With inputs from PTI)