Free Electricity Scheme, Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand government has newly come up with Free Electricity scheme on July 8, 2021 for providing free electricity to the consumers up to 100 units each. This announcement was made by State Power Minister Harak Singh Rawat. Under this scheme those consumers consuming up to 100 units of electricity per month will be provided electricity free of cost. Those consumers consuming about 100 to 200 units of electricity per month will be charged at flat 50% discount on the total bill. Under this scheme about 13 lakhs domestic consumers will be benefited in the state. The power consumers in dairy, horticulture and agriculture sectors will be treated under domestic sector instead of commercial sector and they will also be covered under this scheme. It tends to benefit the power consumers mainly staying in remote areas or those belonging to lower income group.

Scheme Overview:

Scheme Objectives and Benefits:

• The main objective of the scheme is to provide assistance to the domestic power consumers
• Under this scheme those consumers consuming up to 100 units of electricity per month will be provided electricity free of cost
• 50% discount on the total bill will be provided to the consumers consuming about 100 to 200 units of electricity per month
• It will thereby lessen the burden of power bill payment on the consumers
• It aims to benefit the power consumers mainly staying in remote areas or those belonging to lower income group.
• Power consumers in dairy, horticulture and agriculture sectors will be treated as domestic sector and will be covered under the scheme
• It is a welfare scheme launched especially for the power bill consumers amidst the pandemic situations

Scheme Details:

• On July 8, 2021, State Power Minister Harak Singh Rawat announced Free Electricity scheme in the state for the domestic power consumers
• This scheme is announced for benefiting the metered domestic power consumers in the state
• Under the scheme all the power consumers consuming upto 100-200 units of electricity will be covered
• Those consumers consuming up to 100 units of electricity per month will be provided electricity free of cost and those consumers consuming about 100 to 200 units of electricity per month will be provided with a 50% discount on the total bill
• It aims to benefit the consumers in remote hilly areas and those belonging to lower income group.
• Power consumers in dairy, horticulture and agriculture sectors will be treated as domestic sector instead of commercial sector under this scheme and will thus be eligible for benefits under the scheme
• Power minister also stated that though electricity bills are charged for two months in the state, benefit under the scheme will be provided on monthly basis
• He also further stated an example as in case a consumer gets a bill of 200 units in 2 months then he will still not have to pay any money for the same
• It is a state welfare scheme planned for benefiting the domestic power consumers
• He stated, a proposal is to be made regarding the scheme implementation and the same will soon be presented before the cabinet in the next meeting for approval