Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal will launch what’s being billed as Bijli Bil Vivad Samadhan Scheme ( Electricity bill dispute resolution scheme) in Delhi on Sunday.
Last week the government had announced the scheme with aim to providing relief to consumers who have been in disputes with the power companies over the alleged inflated bills, defective meters, ‘unreasonable penalties and misuse charges.
Under the scheme, people living in JJ clusters, who could not pay their dues in the past will now only be charged Rs.25o per month for the period they’ve not paid their dues. The government has decided to waive off any late surcharge or interest while the consumers will have the options to pay their dues in ‘six monthly’ installments.
A government press release said that the government had been receiving a large number of complaints from the aggrieved consumers and the new initiative was aimed at addressing that problem effectively.
“Delhi government has decided in public interest to launch a one-time settlement scheme to provide relief to the poor and medium income group consumers of Delhi by offering resolution of various types of complaints and grievances. The scheme would also lead to minimizing power theft and reducing Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses in Delhi by giving the consumers opportunity to settle their cases and join the mainstream. Such scheme would also lead to amicable out of court settlement of large number of cases pending before courts,” said the government release.
The AAP-led government also announced that all previous criminal or civil proceedings, if any, related to these cases, will be withdrawn with the scheme remaining effective for one month starting from 30 August.
Some of the other highlights of the scheme:
- Direct Theft bill Settlement: To give relief to the small and medium consumers of domestic category with load up to 11 kW and booked for direct theft, 100% late payment surcharge and 2/3rd of the balance outstanding amount of the bill will be waived, if they pay the total amount in one go. Otherwise, 60% of the outstanding balance will be waived and balance outstanding should be paid in four monthly installments.
- Meter Tampering bill Settlement: Small and medium domestic and commercial consumers with sanctioned load up to 11 kW and booked for meter tampering will be allowed waiver of 100% late payment surcharge and 2/3rd of the balance outstanding, if they pay the total amount in one go. Otherwise, 60% of the outstanding balance will be waived and balance outstanding to be paid in four monthly installments.
- Misuse/Unauthorized use of electricity: For the consumers who have been booked for misuse/unauthorized use of electricity, 100% late payment surcharge and 50% of the balance billed amount will be waived and the connection will be converted into the correct category and/or separate meter will be provided for non-domestic use.
- Scheme for disconnected consumers :Consumers with sanctioned load up to 11kW, where there are outstanding dues on the premises and the consumer wants a new connection or wants to clear the outstanding dues at the premises. In such cases, 100% late payment surcharge will be waved off and the consumer/occupant will have to pay the entire energy charges in a maximum of four installments. The meter will be installed on payment of first installment and completion of formalities prescribed by DERC.