Power supply to be disconnected if defaulters fail to clear dues in Faridabad

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) is yet to recover pending bill dues amounting to Rs 460 crore from the defaulting consumers in the Faridabad circle. A drive to disconnect the connections of the defaulters is expected only after the conclusion of the Assembly poll process, according to sources.

With the outstanding power bills in the circle rising to around Rs 460 crore against around 1.28 lakh consumers, the department’s drive to recover the pending bills by offering waiver or rebate schemes in the past few years has elicited a poor response so far, according to sources in the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN).

Of the total 96,706 domestic consumers, as many as 75,828 defaulters are from urban areas, while another 20,878 consumers belong to the rural sector, according to the sources in the department.

While supplies to 54,669 connections have already been disconnected, around 73,365 consumers were getting the supply despite being defaulters, it was learnt. As many as 923 government departments’ consumers also owe a bill to the tune of Rs 18.68 crore. These include the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA), Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), district administration office, district judicial complex, Police, Health, Tourism departments and the Faridabad Smart City Limited, among others.

Though supplies to a large number of consumers have been disconnected, they have failed to clear the dues to the tune of Rs 319.77 crore till date, according to the sources. The pending amount against the connected consumers stands at Rs 140.38 crore.

As a large number of cases had been in arbitration or several legal procedures were underway, the department was helpless to carry out any drive to disconnect their supply or recover the pending dues. Litigation, untraced connections and change of address by consumers have led to the development of such crisis, when the power supply to such consumers has still been on, an official said.

Supply to the majority of the government departments could not be disconnected, keeping in view the urgency of the facilitation of basic amenities and the involvement of the public utilities or services. The circle has around 6.75 lakh connections at present.

Jitender Dhull, Superintending Engineer, DHBVN, said a drive to recover the pending dues is proposed to be launched soon after the conclusion of the election process. He said supply of the defaulters would be disconnected if they fail to clear the pending dues of Rs 10,000 or more as part of the drive after issuing notices.

Previous schemes ineffective

• With the outstanding power bills in the circle rising to around ~460 crore against around 1.28 lakh consumers, the department’s drive to recover the pending bills by offering waiver or rebate schemes in the past few years has elicited a poor response so far.
• Of the total 96,706 domestic consumers, as many as 75,828 defaulters are from urban areas, while another 20,878 consumers belong to the rural sector.
• While supplies to 54,669 connections were already been disconnected, around 73,365 consumers were getting the supply despite being defaulters.
• As many as 923 government departments’ consumers also owe a bill to the tune of Rs 18.68 crore. These include the FMDA, HSVP, HSIIDC, district administration office, district judicial complex and the Faridabad Smart City Limited, among others.