Amnesty scheme approved for domestic power consumers in J-K

SRINAGAR — The Administrative Council (AC) which met here under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved the amnesty scheme for domestic power consumers in the UT.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K and Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.

The decision is going to benefit more than 5.50 lakh domestic consumers by waiving off an amount of Rs. 937.34 crores, accumulated as surcharge or interest, on account of non-payment of timely dues.

The Administrative Council has provided this last opportunity to the consumers in view of not being able to avail of the benefits of the last scheme due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during the scheme period. The new scheme envisages that the outstanding principal amount arrears accumulated up to 31.03.2022 after waving off 100% interest/surcharge shall be paid in a maximum of twelve monthly (12) instalments.

The scheme further entails that the failure of payment of any installment/installments within the prescribed twelve (12) months period shall invite penalty and legal action under the Electricity Act, 2010, in addition to the accrual of compound interest on the outstanding dues.

The consumers who fail to pay the current bill simultaneously with the payment of monthly outstanding installments shall forfeit the benefits of the amnesty scheme besides the disconnection of the power supply.

An independent project management agency will be hired for overseeing the efficient implementation of the scheme.