Chandigarh, Nov 15: The Punjab Government has extended its Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) for regularisation of excess load on tubewell connections by another 45 days till December 29, while substantially reducing the charges payable by farmers.
Under the revised scheme, service connection charges have been slashed from Rs 6,572 to Rs 2,500 per brake horsepower (BHP), while the security deposit has been reduced from Rs 400 to Rs 200 per BHP. The government has also decided not to impose any penalty or load surcharge on excess load declared voluntarily or detected during inspection.
The decision comes a day after the state government waived penalties worth Rs 518 crore for nearly 25 lakh electricity consumers.
Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said the extended scheme would provide farmers an opportunity to regularise unauthorised excess load on their tubewell connections without facing additional financial burdens.
He said the scheme was initially introduced for 45 days, from October 1 to November 14, and had now been extended for another 45 days. Eligible consumers can avail themselves of the facility till December 29.
The minister said the government was committed to providing financial relief to farmers. While consumers earlier had to pay Rs 6,572 per BHP as service connection charges for regularising excess load, they would now be required to pay only Rs 2,500 per BHP.
Similarly, the security deposit has been reduced by half, from Rs 400 to Rs 200 per BHP. He reiterated that no penalty or surcharge would be levied on unauthorised excess load under the scheme.
