New amnesty scheme for permanently disconnected electricity consumers

ENERGY MINISTER Nitin Raut on Tuesday announced an amnesty scheme for permanently disconnected (PD) consumers of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL). There are 32 lakh such consumers in the state.

The Vilasrao Deshmukh Amnesty Scheme, named after the former chief minister, will run till August 31 and will apply to all categories, except agriculture consumers. PD consumers availing the scheme would be given 100 per interest waiver on delayed payment. For paying the arrears in one installment, high tension PD consumers and low tension PD consumers will get an additional rebate of 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, he said.

According to Raut, “There are 32,16,500 PD consumers whose total arrears add up to Rs 9,354 crore.” The objective of the scheme was to help MSEDCL improve its finances through recovery of pending dues. The government also wants to take some burden off consumers whose connections have been disrupted over unpaid bills. According to Raut, the scheme would also encourage consumers to consider reviving their closed commercial units and businesses.

The first installment of payment will have to be 30 per cent of the basic amount, the rest to be paid in six installments. However, it would be mandatory to pay the prescribed installment along with the current bill.