‘NO POWER SURCHARGE’ IN HARYANA TILL LOCKDOWN

CHANDIGARH: Giving relief to the electricity consumers in Haryana, state power minister Ranjit Singh Chautala said on Tuesday that “there will be no surcharge on electricity bills till the lockdown is in place”.

He also said that the move to seek a four-month security deposit from the consumers has also been deferred for a year.

With a focus on checking power theft, the department has formed teams to take action against the violators, he said. According to the officials of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), electricity surcharge at the rate of 5% is collected from the consumers if there is a delay in bill payment. Earlier, the power department had announced a waiver in surcharge from May 3 to May 24, but it was later extended till June 3.

The officials also said that the waiver will now be extended till the time lockdown is in place.

The department has purchased 1,000,000 smart meters to ensure transparency in metering and billing, out of which 275,000 smart meters were installed in Gurugram, Faridabad, Karnal and Panchkula, said Singh, while interacting with media persons in Chandigarh.

“The department will purchase about 2,000,000 smart meters. We have formed 236 teams of about 1,700 members to conduct power theft raids in industries, brick kilns, shopping malls, and resorts across the state. We have registered around 2,600 power theft cases, and it has generated a revenue of ₹536 crore,” he said.