More than 40% consumers have not opted for electricity subsidy, says Delhi govt | So Good News

More than 40 percent of the 56.98 lakh household consumers have not opted for the electricity subsidy offered by the Delhi government till the deadline of October 31, officials said on Monday.

While more than 34 lakh household consumers have applied for electricity subsidy, those who could not opt ​​will have another chance to do so next month, he said.

A total of 22,81,900 (40 per cent) home buyers had not applied for the subsidy, officials said.

The Delhi government has changed its free electricity scheme by deciding to provide services only to domestic users who apply.

Till Monday afternoon, 34.16 lakh applicants have opted for the subsidy and the number is likely to increase slightly by the end of the day, officials said.

“It means that many consumers will give up the subsidies. Chances are that some consumers could not import the funds due to various reasons,” said an official of the Delhi government.

This information will be studied and the reasons why more than 22 lakh people do not apply for subsidy will be found to see if genuine consumers have failed to benefit from the subsidy scheme, said the official.

Those who applied for subsidy included 15,54,646 consumers of BRPL discom, 8,49,756 consumers of BYPL, more than 10 lakh consumers of TPDDL and 10,920 consumers of NDMC, officials said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the subsidy application process on September 14, providing a mobile number for electricity users to fill applications.

He also said that any consumer who could not apply for assistance for the month of October after the deadline of October 31, can apply to pay next month.

The subsidy application can be submitted online as well as online.

The average number of power beneficiaries in Delhi is around 47 lakh. The number varies from month to month based on consumer usage.

Of the 47 lakh electricity users who received the subsidy before the new scheme was implemented, about 30 lakh received zero and 16-17 lakh received 50 percent, officials said.

Currently, consumers who consume less than 200 units per month do not have to pay anything and those who consume up to 400 units per month receive 50 percent.

There were 48.29 lakh beneficiaries in April 2021. The number decreased in the summer months of May (45.8 lakh), June (39.56 lakh), and July (34.12 lakh), increasing the use of electricity for cooling.

During the winter months, the number of people benefiting from this subsidy started to rise from 53.61 lakh in November to 54.86 lakh in December 2021 and 51.79 lakh in January and 52.82 lakh in February 2022, showing a reduction in electricity consumption. ‘no.

The chief minister said that the option of subsidizing electricity should be given because many consumers who have been able to pay their electricity bills want to do so.

More than 97 per cent of the Delhi government’s allocation to the power department, amounting to Rs 3,340 crore, for the year 2022-2323 was earmarked for utilities.

The subsidy in 2022-23 was Rs 3,250 crore. It was Rs 3,090 crore in the financial year 2021-22.

(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest is simply compiled from a composite feed.)