Lucknow : 13.20 percent of the consumers of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation have become Galfans. He has not deposited the electricity bill even once after taking the connection. Now the departmental officers are getting warnings to reduce their number. Corporation has to increase teams for revenue collection.
There are 3.25 crore electricity consumers in the state. In this, till the month of August, 42.94 lakh consumers have not deposited the electricity bill even once after taking the connection. This is about 13.20 percent of the total consumers. If we look at the electricity distribution corporation wise, about 20.63 percent of the consumers who have not paid electricity bill even once are in Purvanchal. Similarly, 16.09 percent are in Madhyanchal, 10.95 percent in Dakshinanchal and 2.48 percent in Paschimanchal.
The special thing is that their number in Kesco is zero. Although such consumers are 12.52 percent in Kanpur zone. Zone-wise figures have the highest 28.06 in Mirzapur and the lowest 0.77 in Ghaziabad. Now departmental officers have been instructed to recover from these consumers. For this, a target is given for every month. Action is warned if the target is not met. In such a situation, these consumers have become a stumbling block for the departmental officers.
Consumers who do not pay bills increased after Saubhagya
Saubhagya Yojana was started in the year 2017 to provide electricity to every house in the state. In this, free connections were given to the consumers. Departmental officers could not explain about giving electricity bills to BPL consumers. A message was also given to all the consumers that they will not have to pay the bill. This is the reason why the number of consumers who have never deposited electricity bills in rural areas is high.
95 percent domestic connections
According to the departmental officers, 95 percent of the total consumers who have never deposited the electricity bill after taking the connection are domestic consumers. Five percent are businessmen or small shopkeepers. The connections of these consumers should have been disconnected for not depositing the bills, but the number of connections should not be reduced. In such a situation, departmental officers also take action slowly. In the year 2020, their number was around 75 lakhs, which has now come down to 42 lakhs. Zone-wise target is being given every month to reduce their number.
Know here what experts say
State Consumer Council President Awadhesh Kumar Verma told that most of the consumers who never pay electricity bill after getting the connection are BPL. They have been forcibly given connections under Saubhagya Yojana. Along with the connection, it was explained to them that they would be given free electricity. However, there is a rule by the department to provide electricity to the consumers of Saubhagya Yojana at the rate of three rupees per unit up to 100 units. There is a demand to reduce it to Rs 1.5 per unit.
Know here what is responsible
At the same time, Dr. Ashish Kumar Goyal, President of Power Corporation, told that the number of consumers who never pay electricity bill is continuously decreasing. For this, a target has been set every month. Efforts are being made to motivate such consumers to deposit the bills instead of disconnecting them. It is expected that after some time such consumers will end.
zone-wise non-billing consumers
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Azamgarh 20.08
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Basti 24.28
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Gorakhpur 20.77
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Mirzapur 28.06
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Prayagraj 18.48
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Varanasi 18.07
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Ayodhya 18.22
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Bareilly 17.66
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Devipatan 24.65
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Lesa Sis Gomti Zone 2.78
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Leesa Trans Gomti Zone 1.22
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Lucknow 15.79
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Agra 1st Zone 8.21
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Agra II Zone 4.04
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Aligarh 5.56
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Banda 21.67
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Jhansi 16.16
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Kanpur 12.52
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Ghaziabad 0.77
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Bulandshahr 3.12
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Meerut 0.86
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Moradabad 3.02
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Noida 2.78
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Saharanpur 3.51
(Figures are on the basis of consumers who have not paid the bill even once in relation to zone-wise total consumers)