Jammu, August 23: The decision of the state cabinet to approve PDD’s proposal of Amnesty Scheme for Electricity Consumers, though late, is a welcome and a wise step taken by the government to help the over burdened consumers of the state and at the same time generate revenue for the state.
The proposal was there for quite some time as experts had been suggesting that a full amnesty with a big time gap can prove very effective in generating revenue from those consumers who are basically not habitual defaulters but default due to financial crunches of varied nature.
Even though the government had been giving such amnesty to consumers by slashing the penalty on the pending bills but nobody ever applied his mind to think how they expected a defaulter to generate thousands of the rupees worth electricity bills within a few days by getting a cut of just a few thousand rupees.
There were numerous consumers who want to clear their outstanding bills but the rigid attitude of the PDD and obsolete rules are hampering their willingness thus accumulating the bills more with no visible way out.
Earlier the department wanted the consumers to pay in one go and gain the waiving of penalty but now the consumers have not only time gap on their side but also an option of four installments even though people feel the government should have kept the option open so that people could deposit whatever and whenever they saved till March 31, 2016.
There is still time for the government to rethink over its option of only four installments and it would be better to keep it flexible so that people can make maximum payment thus generating more revenue for the government.
The step would surely go a long way in resolving the power crisis in the state and revenue generation for the department which has been facing flak for its poor revenue generation with high demand during peak season.
The reduction of electricity duty to 12% is also a good step and one would like the government to gear up its men and machinery to check power pilferage so that after 31st March 2016 the power theft is curtailed to bare minimum while government, big public and private sectors are not spared as far as electricity bills are concerned.
It is expected that the step would benefit more than 15 lakh consumers of the state by getting more than 250 cores worth incentives due to waiving of the surcharge and other additional benefits.
The department would do well to its reputation if it sticks to its promise of providing round the clock full voltage electricity to those consumers who have installed electronic meters and pay up their bills regularly.
The field staff has much to do about this as it is this section of the department which allows power pilferage with full knowledge in return of monthly bribes.
The government also needs to simplify the power tariff system and let the consumers decide how to use the electricity by incorporating some modern and innovative ways to make electric supply like that of phone usage where the consumer who pays his bills fully gets the best service while the consumers who are habitual defaulters get only essential service till the bills are paid.
It is hoped that the government incorporates out of the box solutions to resolve the power crisis in the state and does not stop by patting its back by keeping an election promise to remain only a populist government as people this time have high expectations from the new government.