BENGALURU: For availing the benefits of Gruha Jyothi scheme, if you decide to drop your power consumption below 200 units this month, you will not be entitled for free power suddenly. The government will assess your monthly power consumption for 12 months before extending the scheme to you, according to Energy Minister KJ George.
To avail this facility from August 1, people have to apply on Seva Sindhu between June 15 and July 5. George said if consumption is below 200 units, then the consumer will not have to pay fixed charges or even taxes.
Officials said all calculations have been made and the bill will be Zero to consumers if their consumption is below 200 units, irrespective of the rise in power tariff. Accordingly, some consumers could get their bills for the month of June in July.
George said the issue of including people living in rented houses, those who have purchased new houses and those who drop their power consumption, will be discussed at the cabinet and with the CM before making the final announcement.
‘State has 2.16 cr home consumers’
George said tenants or those living in houses on lease are eligible for Gruha Jyothi. They should submit their voter ID details, Aadhaar, rental/ lease documents or other government ID cards. It is important that all RR numbers are linked to Aadhaar cards and one person should have one RR number to qualify for the scheme.
He said there are 2.16 crore domestic consumers in the state. Of them, 2.14 crore consumers’ monthly average power consumption is 53 units, who will benefit from this scheme. There are two lakh consumers whose power consumption is above 200 units.
“If a person’s bill for one month is above 200 units, then he will have to pay the full charge. And the bill will be Zero if it is below 200 units, consistently for an average of 12 months. The consumer will have to apply for it and the teams will check all details before giving approval for the service. Offering this subsidy would cost the government around Rs 13,000 crore and the government will bear the cost, despite the rise in power tariff,” George said.