22 lakh get 'zero electricity bill' in Punjab

Chandigarh, September 2

On June 29 last year, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal had given the first guarantee of giving 300 units of free power per month to domestic consumers in the state. Just over a year later, after having won the election, the state government has sent “zero power bills” to 22 lakh consumers.

The “zero bills” were issued to consumers today, after the scheme was launched on July 1. Since consumers in the state get the bills every two months, the result of the government’s scheme has yielded results now.

Of the 72 lakh domestic consumers, power bills have been sent to 42 lakh, of which 22 lakh have benefitted. “During the July-August bi-monthly billing cycle, because of intense heat wave, the power consumed is high. As weather improves, more consumers will stand to benefit,” said an officer in the Power Department. By the time, the bills are dispatched to all consumers, over 51 lakh consumers will get “zero bills”, he added.

While power bills have been dispatched to nine lakh households in the North Zone during the period (of which 5.10 lakh consumers have received ‘zero bills’), in the Border Zone, bills have been sent to 8.05 lakh consumers, of which 4.7 lakh have received ‘zero bills’. Similarly, out of 6.02 lakh consumers in the Central Zone, bills of 2.95 lakh households have been waived.

In the Southern Zone, five lakh (of 10 lakh consumers who have received the bills) consumers have benefitted. In the Western Zone, 9 lakh bills have been sent.