UHBVN final notice to defaulters in Ambala over Rs50-crore dues

Nitin Jain
Tribune News Service
Ambala, September 1

Several government departments and thousands of domestic, commercial and industrial electricity consumers owe around Rs 50 crore in dues to the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) in the twin towns of Ambala. Though they have been issued repeated notices in the past couple of months, most of the defaulters have not cleared their pending bills, the officials said here on Tuesday.

Bills were exempted till June 

• The defaulting govt depts account for almost Rs45-crore arrears and private consumers haven’t paid around Rs5-crore dues since the lockdown was imposed in March
• UHBVN officials said: “While the govt had exempted the payment of electricity bills till June, the defaulters had not paid their dues even two months after that.”

Acting tough against the defaulters, the UHBVN has decided to snap the power connections of the major defaulters, whose arrears run into several lakhs of rupees.

While the defaulting government departments account for almost Rs 45-crore arrears, private consumers have not paid around Rs 5 crore bill dues since the lockdown was imposed in March. “While the government had exempted the payment of power bills till June, the defaulters had not paid their dues even two months after that,” the officials said.

The UHBVN officials said the defaulters had been issued the final notices and had been asked to clear their dues immediately, failing which their connections would be snapped. “In case of failure to clear the dues, the department will take punitive action to recover the amount,” they added.

Officials of most of the defaulting departments said that a demand had been sent to the head offices and they would clear the dues as soon as they get the financial sanction. “Due to the lockdown, the financial sanction from the headquarters could not be received and the dues could not be cleared,” they said.

As far as the Public Health Department and civic bodies are concerned, their power supply disconnection could lead to a major crisis, as they supply water to the residents and light the streets.

To generate revenue at its own level, the Municipal Corporations (MCs) have tightened the noose around property tax defaulters and sealed their land after they did not clear the arrears despite repeated notices. Even as several properties of the defaulters have been sealed, the MCs are struggling to recover the tax arrears of Rs 30 crore.

Similarly, most of the defaulting departments are awaiting the financial sanction from their head offices to clear the power dues. The UHBVN notices warn the defaulting departments of punitive action in case of further failure to clear the arrears.