NEW DELHI: Those who wish to continue getting subsidy on their power consumption will get the opportunity to opt for it from the first week of July.
Officials said the electricity bills sent to the consumers from next month might have a form with “yes” or “no” option. Those who are willing to continue the subsidy — officials believe the majority will be — will have to tick on “yes” and submit the form at the nearest power discom office or the office of the local MLA. Those who are willing to submit their responses electronically will also get the option on the websites of the discoms and the Delhi government. From October 1, only these customers will get the subsidy.
Officials said the power department had prepared a proposal on how to collect the responses and sent it to the chief minister’s office for approval. Once approved, the department, with the help of the three discoms, apart from New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board, will start sending letters to all consumers.
“We hope to get the approval from the government by the end of June. If that happens, we will start the exercise of collecting the responses from July,” said a Delhi government official.
Officials said that the electricity bill from the next month might be accompanied with a letter from the chief minister and a separate leaf on which the consumers would have to mark their choice. The form will already have the name, address, category and the consumer number printed on it. Officials said the government would run a campaign for two-three months to create awareness among masses about the scheme.
“The discoms will have to prepare the database of all consumers who opt for the subsidy. All the responses will be digitised and categorised by the discoms to ensure that those who opt for subsidy keep getting it without any technical hitch,” another official said.
As per the government records, the city has 58,18,231 electricity connections and 47,16,075, over 80% of them, receive the subsidy. While those who consume up to 200 units a month get a zero bill, those consuming between 201 and 400 receive a subsidy of 50% up to Rs 800.
Since more than 80% people pay their bills online, the power department assumes that they will also submit their responses electronically. The Delhi government has this year set aside Rs 3,250 crore to pay as subsidy to the eligible power consumers.
