PSPCL issues notification for 300 free power units a month

As per the notification, in case of bimonthly consumption of up to 600 units (300 units per month), there would be zero bill for all domestic consumers. This includes no energy charges, fixed charges, meter rent and government levies/taxes etc

Patiala: Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Saturday issued a notification of providing 300 units to free power to state consumers per month.

Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Saturday issued a notification of providing 300 units to free power to state consumers per month.

State power minister Harbhajan Singh said he notification entails granting free 600 units of electricity bimonthly (300 units per month) to all domestic consumers. This concession has come into effect from July 1, he said.

As per the notification, in case of bimonthly consumption of up to 600 units (300 units per month), there would be zero bill for all domestic consumers. This includes no energy charges, fixed charges, meter rent and government levies/taxes etc.

In case the bimonthly consumption exceeds 600 units, the SC, BC, non-SC/BC BPL and freedom fighters of Punjab along with their successors (up to grandchildren), who fulfil the conditions as per the self-declaration, shall pay energy charges only for the units consumed in excess of 600 units bimonthly, along with fixed charges, meter rentals and government levies/taxes.

As free 600 units bimonthly/300 units monthly shall pertain to initial slabs of tariff, the electricity consumption in excess of 600 units bimonthly/300 units monthly shall be billed as per the applicable slabs of monthly tariff above 300 units.

All the other domestic consumers (except those covered above) shall pay energy charges for their entire consumption as per applicable tariff issued by the PSERC from time to time, along with fixed charges, meter rentals & Government levies/taxes, in case their consumption is more than 600 units bimonthly/300 units monthly, according to the notification.

In case of rooftop solar domestic prosumers, the monthly import consumption up to 300 units would entail zero monthly bill for such consumers. If the monthly import consumption is more than 300 units, monthly billing system would be applied as per existing norms, the notification said.

Also, the subsidy of ₹3 per unit (including government levies) up to 7KW for domestic consumers using electricity for residential purpose only and having sanctioned load up to 7KW in various slabs of tariff, shall continue.

SAD terms it fraud on people

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal said the notification issued by the PSPCL on 300 units of free power per month has again exposed a fraud of the Bhagwant Mann government with the people of the state. The conditions laid down in the notification have made it clear that more than 80% of the people will be deprived of the so-called scheme of the AAP government.

In a statement, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said it was shocking that the CM had claimed that more than 51 lakh households will get benefit from the scheme but the notification issued by PSPCL has proved that all the claims by CM were hollow.

He said though a marginal section of the society might get benefit of the scheme, the reality is that a good number of people were either having a member who is government employed, pensioner, doctor, engineer, chartered accountant or other professional who is not supposed to avail benefit of the scheme.

A cruel joke, says Warring

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring lashed out at the AAP government for “cheating and betraying” the people of Punjab in the name of free power. Reacting to the notification issued by the PSPCL on 600 units of free power in a bimonthly billing cycle, Warring said the state government has virtually excluded most of the population in Punjab.

“The conditions for getting free power are such that not many households will be eligible for 600 units of free power,” he said. Giving an example, he said no income tax payee, no family with a pensioner or a government employee will be eligible for free power.

“This is not what you had promised and repeatedly announced after forming the government,” Warring told the CM, saying it is blatant cheating with the people of Punjab.