Power connection of 450 consumers disconnected over pending dues in Gr Noida

During a crackdown on defaulters, power connections of as many as 450 consumers have been disconnected in last three days

GREATER NOIDA: The power discom has disconnected power connections of as many as 450 power consumers in Greater Noida after they allegedly failed to pay their dues to the tune of over ₹2.40 crore, officials said on Saturday.

Among the erring consumers, there are many big defaulters who have outstanding dues of around ₹1,00,000 or more. (HT Photo)

The enforcement was carried out in parts of Greater Noida including Bilaspur Dadha, Salempur, Baghpur, Haldwani among other places, over the last three days. Most of the defaulters had accumulated bills of up to ₹1 lakh per consumer, officials informed.

The discom aims to disconnect connections of 5,000 big defaulters in the region. For this purpose, five dedicated teams have been pressed into action for launching the disconnection while four other teams have been deployed to monitor the situation on the ground, said officials.

Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) spokesperson, Manoj Jha, said: “During a crackdown on defaulters, power connections of as many as 450 consumers were disconnected over the last three days who had a pending amount of over ₹2.40 crore.”

“Subsequently, as many as 300 consumers managed to clear their dues of around ₹1.5 crore after which, their connections were restored by the discom whereas for those who have not yet cleared their outstanding amount, further legal action is underway,” the official added.

Officials said that among the erring consumers, there are many big defaulters who have outstanding dues of around ₹1,00,000 or more.

“Besides snapping their power connections, service cables of these power consumers have also been removed. So that they cannot not reconnect the wires by hooking up with cables and commit power theft,” the NPCL spokesperson added.

As many as 40 power consumers were also identified to be committing power theft in these areas, Officials informed.

They said that these consumers were using electricity by illegal means such as tampering with connections, using joints in cables, post-disconnection. A case is being registered against the defaulters under the relevant sections of Electricity Act.

The NPCL has put up camps at different locations in Greater Noida, to enable power consumers to lodge their power-related grievances and to clear their dues. So far, 53 such camps have been set up at places including Godi Baccheda, Aminabad village, Bulandkheda, Bilaspur, informed officials.

Around ₹3 crore have been recovered from consumers with the help of these camps, they added.

There are around 160,000 power consumers under the jurisdiction of NPCL in Greater Noida.

The NPCL has urged power consumers to promptly pay their electricity bills and clear their dues to protect their electricity connection and avoid a legal action.