The Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha led J&K administration announced a waiver for domestic power consumers in the UT in the interest accumulated in the power bills on account of non-payment of timely dues.The waiver was approved by the Administrative Council (AC) which met in Srinagar under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K and Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.As per an official handout by the J&K government, the decision is going to benefit more than 5.50 lakh domestic consumers by waiving off an amount of Rs. 937.34 crore, accumulated as surcharge or interest, on account of non-payment of timely dues.
The Administrative Council has provided this last opportunity to the consumers in view of not being able to avail the benefits of last scheme due to spread of Covid-19 pandemic during the scheme period.
The new scheme envisages that the outstanding principal amount arrears accumulated upto 31.03.2022 after waiving off 100% interest/surcharge shall be paid in a maximum of twelve monthly (12) installments.The scheme further entails that the failure of payment of any installment/installments within the prescribed twelve (12) months period shall invite penalty and legal action under Electricity Act, 2010, in addition to the accrual of compound interest on the outstanding dues.
The consumers who fail to pay the current bill simultaneously with the payment of monthly outstanding installments shall forfeit the benefits of the Amnesty scheme besides disconnection of power supplyAn independent Project Management Agency will be hired for overseeing efficient implementation of the scheme.
