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Govt depts bleed PSPCL, owe ₹4,637 crore in power arrears
Electricity bill arrears of consumers in Punjab have shot up by nearly ₹400 crore in a year. From ₹4,240 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal, the pending power bills of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) consumers has swelled to ₹4,637 crore till February-end this year, data from the state power utility records reveals
Patiala : Electricity bill arrears of consumers in Punjab have shot up by nearly ₹400 crore in a year. From ₹4,240 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal, the pending power bills of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) consumers has swelled to ₹4,637 crore till February-end this year, data from the state power utility records reveals.
The government departments are the biggest defaulters when it comes to paying power dues. According to records, state government departments owe ₹2,764 crore and other domestic and commercial consumers ₹1,873 crore to the PSPCL.
The arrears of government departments have increased by more than 13% in a year while that of non-government consumers by of 3.5%.
The water supply and sanitation department of the Punjab government tops the defaulters’ list with outstanding power bill of ₹1,085 crore, followed by local government department ₹996 crore, rural development and panchayats department ₹318 crore and health and family welfare department ₹150 crore. These four departments owe ₹2,549 crore, or 92.2%, of the total default money to the PSPCL.
The other government departments and corporations on the defaulters’ list are sewerage board ( ₹77 crore), home affairs and jails with ( ₹24 crore) and public works department ( ₹22 crore).
Officials familiar with the matter said that government departments continue to default on payment despite repeated reminders by the state power secretary and chief secretary.
Last year, the PSPCL had to launch a “one-time settlement (OTS) scheme” wherein surcharge was waived. PSPCL officials said the OTS scheme was launched to motivate government departments to pay the pending electricity bills, but most of the entities didn’t take advantage of it.
“Some of the government departments have stopped paying the bills, and we can’t do much about it as the minister concerned doesn’t allow action against the defaulter department,” said a PSPCL official, who wished not to be named.
Another top functionary of the PSPCL said the default amount had continuously been increasing every year, putting the PSPCL in a tight spot.
“We have been taking up the issue of pending bills with the government departments on a regular basis. We hope that dues will be cleared soon,” power secretary Tejvir Singh said.
