JAMMU, MAR14: In a meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the Administrative Council approved the extension of the Amnesty Scheme-2022 until March 31, 2025, benefiting domestic electricity consumers in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rajeev RaiBhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, along with AtalDulloo, Chief Secretary of J&K, and Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, attended the meeting.
The scheme entails a complete waiver of 100% interest/surcharge on outstanding principal amounts. With over 86% of Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Department (JKPDD) consumers falling under the domestic consumer category, this sector accounts for approximately 50% of the total energy consumption in the UT.
However, about 30% of these domestic consumers (approximately 5.50 lakh) are either making staggered payments or have failed to make any payments toward their electricity bills, primarily due to accumulated outstanding power dues, including late payment surcharges/interest, leading to significant commercial losses for JKPDD/Discoms.
The Amnesty Scheme has already facilitated the recovery of Rs. 235.58 crore from domestic consumers. Under the scheme, domestic consumers will benefit from the waiver of surcharge amounts and have the option to pay the principal amount in affordable installments (EMIs).
The implementation of the scheme is expected to enable the government/DISCOMS to recover outstanding principal amounts, thereby reducing the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR)/Aggregate Cost of Service (ACS) gap and positively impacting the reduction of Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses.
