Bill collectors say Gruha Jyothi scheme hitting their income

Hyderabad: The Gruha Jyothi scheme, if bill collectors are to be believed, has reduced their income by over 50 percent. Gruha Jyothi is the flagship programme of the Congress-led State government, which promises free electricity up to 200 units for every residential household. The bill collectors, whose salaries depend on the number of consumers who […]

Hyderabad: The Gruha Jyothi scheme, if bill collectors are to be believed, has reduced their income by over 50 percent.

Gruha Jyothi is the flagship programme of the Congress-led State government, which promises free electricity up to 200 units for every residential household. The bill collectors, whose salaries depend on the number of consumers who pay the power bills on a monthly basis, say that with over 40 lakh consumers receiving zero bills from March under the scheme, their income has come down.

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There are over 600 bill collectors in the State, who are working on a meagre remuneration of Rs.2.50 per bill in the rural areas and Rs.2 in urban areas.

According to Telangana Bill Collectors Association president Saidireddy, each bill collector used to get Rs.12,000 to Rs.15,000 per month through bill collections. However, with the advent of the Gruha Jyothi scheme, they were getting around Rs.6,000 as a majority of consumers were covered under the scheme.

“This scheme has broken our back. It has become very difficult for us to run our families. The government should come to our rescue and compensate for our losses,” he said.

In rural areas, over 80 percent of power consumers are covered under the scheme, following which bill collectors are losing a huge portion of revenue. “Bill collectors in rural areas have to travel long distances to collect power bills. Since over 80 percent of consumers are getting zero bills, they have to travel to faraway places to collect a few bills making it expensive and unviable,” Saidireddy said.

The bill collectors claim that already they were losing revenue as a large number of consumers were preferring online payment. “Payment of bills through mobile apps and the Gruha Jyothi scheme is eating into our earnings,” Saidireddy said.

The bill collectors wanted the government to provide fixed salaries instead of the existing commission system so that they were not affected by the Gruha Jyothi scheme and other modes of payments. “Government has absorbed 23,000 artisans in the past. We are just 600. We can also be recognized as artisans in a similar manner. The government can easily provide us a fixed salary of Rs.15,000 per month,” Saidireddy said.

* Bill Collectors say Gruha Jyothi scheme eating into their income

* There are over 600 bill collectors in the State

* They earn Rs.2.50 per bill in rural areas and Rs.2 in urban areas

* Over 80 percent rural consumers covered under Gruha Jyothi

* Bill collectors’ income reduced from Rs.12,000 per month to Rs.6,000

* Bill collectors want fixed salary of Rs.15,000.