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BangaloreClearing the confusion over providing up to 200 units of free electricity to citizens who have recently bought or constructed a house or shifted to a new property, the Energy Department on Monday said such residents would also be covered under the ambitious scheme. Griha Jyoti Plan. But these beneficiaries will be entitled to get only 53 units and additional 10% electricity free of cost.
In the absence of one year’s data on average electricity consumption for such citizens, questions were raised about the inclusion of new home buyers and tenants under the programme. Initially, Energy Minister KJ George had sought time to discuss the issue and reach a consensus.
While organizing a meeting of officials of Finance Department of Energy Department at Vidhana Soudha on Monday, Geroge said that the state government has decided to give the benefit of 200 units of free electricity to such category of citizens as well.
“Our (state government’s) aim was to include as many eligible beneficiaries as possible. When we came to know about the problem of citizens who may belong to this category, we decided to discuss it with the chief minister Later, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah decided to provide benefits to all eligible citizens. Therefore, we have decided to include citizens who have recently constructed a house or moved to a new property under Griha Jyoti Yojana are,” George explained after the meeting.
53 Units Free Plus 10% Extra
While accommodating this category of citizens under the free power scheme up to 200 units, the state government has decided to keep the average consumption of the state as the benchmark to arrive at the quantum of free power.
“Out of 2.16 crore households, 2.14 crore are eligible for this program as they consume less than 200 units of electricity monthly. Moreover, the average annual consumption among these 2.14 crore households is 53 units per month,” explained a senior energy department official
Referring to the average annual consumption of 53 units per month at the state level, George said: “Those who have constructed or shifted to a new property do not have a record of consumption for one year. So, we Have decided to provide them one.” Monthly average 53 units for the next one year, with an additional allocation of 10%. It will be 58-59 units per month. If citizens use more than 58-59 units and remain within 200 units of electricity, then they have to pay only for the additional usage. However, if they exceed 200 units, they will have to pay the full bill amount. After one year, we will calculate their monthly average consumption considering their year’s consumption.”
Explaining the huge increase in monthly electricity bills in June, George said the government had no role in estimating tariffs. “The tariff is fully fixed and declared Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission. Earlier there used to be 3 to 4 slabs and now the same has been reduced to two. We are also discussing whether we can go back to the earlier four slab system. We are even ready to go back to the old system of tariffs, if possible.”
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