The Gruha Jyothi scheme, which promises free 200 units of electricity for domestic consumers, as pledged by the newly-formed Karnataka government, will come into effect from July and will be reflected in the August bill. The state government issued guidelines on Monday, June 5, specifying the conditions and eligibility criteria for availing the benefits of the scheme.
According to the guidelines, the scheme will be extended only to one meter per person. If an individual has multiple RR numbers (consumer accounts) linked to their name, they can avail of the benefit for only one meter. In order to ensure that even tenants can benefit from the scheme, they can register the RR number of the house they are residing in by providing their Aadhaar number and a copy of the rental agreement on the Seva Sindhu portal.
Those whose electricity bills show consumption of less than an average of 200 units in the last year (July 2022 to July 2023), with a buffer of 10% will be eligible for the scheme. The average consumption for each meter will be mentioned in the monthly bill. If the consumer exceeds the average number of units, then they will have to pay the extra amount. For instance, if a person’s average consumption (including the additional 10%) is calculated at 150 units per month, then the person will not have to pay any bill as even the fixed charges will be paid by the government. If the person’s bill exceeds 150 units in a month, then that person will be charged only for the extra units consumed, at a rate of Rs 7 per unit. No fixed charges or taxes will be levied for this. Consumers whose average consumption is recorded as less than 200 units but exceed 200 units in a month will have to pay the entire bill amount as per regular billing. The government will bear the expenses incurred by the Escoms (electricity supply companies), including the Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment.
As expected, consumers whose average bill reflects consumption of more than 200 units per month will not be eligible for the scheme.
Other guidelines are:
– The billing will begin from the usage in July and will be reflected in the August bill.
– Those who wish to seek benefits under the scheme will have to register for the scheme on the Seva Sindhu portal.
– Each beneficiary will be given a customer id/account id and they will have to link their Aadhaar mandatorily.
– The scheme will be applicable only for domestic connections. Those with non-domestic and industrial connections will not qualify.
– All balances on electricity bills till June 30 should be cleared within three months. Failing to do so will lead to the disconnection of electricity.
–Each month, the meter reading will be done mandatorily and given to the consumer. If the bill amount is zero then the bill will reflect that.
– Existing schemes like Bhagya Jyothi/Kuteera Jyothi and Amrutha Jyothi will be subsumed under the Gruha Jyothi scheme.