Rise in number of applicants seeking two power connections for one house in Punjab

Ruchika M Khanna

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Chandigarh, November 20

The greed for getting zero power bills is driving many families in the state to claim that they are now divided and thus need two electricity connections.

Little wonder that nearly 75,000 persons, who already have a power connection, got new electricity connections since beginning of this year, when ‘free power to consumers’ was promised by all political parties in the election fray. As against 2.20 lakh consumers seeking fresh power connections between January to September last year, 2.95 lakh domestic consumers have taken new connections during the corresponding period this year.

Since there are no rules that prohibit two connections in the same house, people from different parts of the state have approached the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) authorities for new connections. These applicants have cited ‘partition in the house’ or ‘division in the family’ as the reason for seeking a fresh connection. Sources in the PSPCL say many households that were consuming more than 600 units of power in a billing cycle (of two months), had applied for and got new connections.

“This will cost the state exchequer dear. The power subsidy to the domestic consumers is set to cross Rs 6,500 crore this year, as the ‘zero bill’ for those consuming 300 units of power in a month, or 600 units in a billing cycle has started from July 1. Last fiscal, this subsidy bill was Rs 2,150 crore and in 2020-21, it was Rs 1,600 crore. Next year, this subsidy to domestic consumers will swell to Rs 7,300 crore,” a senior official in the Power Department told The Tribune, while requesting anonymity.

He added that this year, the total power subsidy bill, including free power to farmers and subsidised power to industrial consumers, would zoom to Rs 18,000 crore.

Sources say that the rules framed by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Authority do not restrict the release of power connections to a household, if consumers maintain that they have two separate cooking arrangements in one house. This subsidy is being misused by people to come under the category of domestic consumers consuming less than 300 units of power in a month.

Max applications in Ferozepur dist

• Maximum applications for new connections are in Ferozepur. The district has seen a rise of 101% followed by Muktsar
• 97% domestic power consumers receive different kinds of subsidy, including those, who get power at Rs 3 per unit on each slab