Over 10 lakh consumers issued Zero bills in Telangana

According to power officials, till March 5, about 2.5 lakh customers of the Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSNPDCL) and 7.5 lakh customers of the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL) have been issued zero bills.

Hyderabad: More than 10 lakh consumers in the State have been issued ‘zero’ electricity bills as part of the Gruha Jyothi scheme so far. The power utilities have started issuing zero bills since March 1 as part of the scheme, which was launched by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on February 27. The beneficiaries of this scheme are eligible for free electricity for up to 200 units.

According to power officials, till March 5, about 2.5 lakh customers of the Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSNPDCL) and 7.5 lakh customers of the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL) have been issued zero bills.

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The State government has asked the power utilities to complete the issuance of zero bills to all the beneficiaries before the Election Commission of India issues a notification for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Once the Model Code of Conduct(MCC) comes into force, the scheme cannot be implemented, officials said.Already the scheme is not being implemented in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts due to the Model Code of Conduct coming into force for the upcoming election to local authorities’ constituency seats of the State Legislative Council scheduled to be held on March 28. Following this, senior officials of the power utilities are pushing the staff to complete the zero billing exercise before the poll notification.

The State government has identified 39.9 lakh eligible domestic consumers in the first phase of the scheme.

Meanwhile, several consumers have complained that they have not received zero bills though they had applied during the Praja Palana programme. They claimed that they have a food security card linked with their Aadhar card, but due to some technical error their data could not be entered in the beneficiaries list. Following several complaints about non-inclusion of beneficiaries’ names in the list, power officials have advised them to apply again.

“Once we receive complete information, zero bills will be issued to the beneficiaries, an official said.
The MPDO and tahsildar offices have been asked to open counters to receive applications continuously from those who did not apply in the Praja Palana programme.