NEW DELHI: Delhi’s electricity subsidy policy has failed to target the disadvantaged section of the population, with its benefits being reaped by higher consumption bracket consumers.
With an outgo of Rs 3,161 crore in 2022–23, more than 30 lakh consumers within the 0 to 200 unit consumption bracket received an average per connection subsidy of Rs 6,000 per annum, whereas approximately 16.6 lakh consumers, with consumption of more than 200 units, received an approximately 70% higher average subsidy per connection of over `10,000 per annum, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in the Delhi Assembly on Friday.
The report said the rationale for having a high threshold value of 400 units of consumption, which covered approximately 80% of the domestic consumers, was not found on record.
The audit observed that the subsidy policy of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi for the power sector did not target the disadvantaged section of the population and paid it to nearly the domestic consumer base. It further noted that the subsidy outgo per consumer was higher for higher consumption bracket consumers. The audit report covered a period of four fiscal years from 2019–20 to 2022–23.
As per the report, over 50,000 consumers had zero consumption for more than 12 months straight and were provided a subsidy of Rs 17.81 crore. Further, more than 90,000 consumers received a subsidy of Rs 11.88 crore for continuous zero consumption for six to 11 months and more than 1.7 lakh consumers had continuous zero consumption for periods between three and five months and got subsidy of Rs 12.57 crore.