Delhi: Scheme to settle power bills may be extended till April 30

Delhi power minister Satyendra Jain said on Tuesday that his department could extend the deadline of the scheme to settle ‘inflated’ power bills till April 30.

Delhi power minister Satyendra Jain said on Tuesday that his department could extend the deadline of the scheme to settle ‘inflated’ power bills till April 30.

The development comes in the wake of several Aam Aadmi Party legislators raising the issue of “high handedness” and “arbitrariness” with which discoms have been settling the cases under the scheme. (AFP/Photo for representation)

The scheme, under which waivers up to 66% are provided to consumers whose bills have been pending for several years as they were reportedly ‘inflated’, was scheduled to lapse on March 31. The development comes in the wake of several Aam Aadmi Party legislators raising the issue of “high handedness” and “arbitrariness” with which discoms have been settling the cases under the scheme.

AAP legislators including Adarsh Shastri, Narayan Dutt Sharma, former ministers Jitender Singh Tomar and Asim Ahmed Khan raised the issue during the question hour in Delhi Assembly.

Dwarka legislator Adarsh Shastri complained that the “Discoms offer discounts to consumers arbitrarily when they approach on their own... But when the legislators recommend any case as per the scheme, the discoms offer 30-40% discount,” he added.

Similar concerns were raised by other legislators. In his reply, the power minister said that about 80,000 cases have been settled since the scheme was launched and several cases are still pending. “If there is any specific complaint, please bring it to my notice appropriate action will be taken. Since several cases are pending, we will also increase the deadline of the scheme by a month,” the power minister said.

With summers just round the corner, several legislators had listed questions related to the power sector, ranging from solar power generation to upgradation of transmission lines and transformers.