Bengaluru: A day after the Congress government in Karnataka issued an order on so-called electricity freebies, the BJP labelled the order to hike power tariff in the state as ‘Congress ka Dhoka’.
“Remember the “Gruha Jyoti ‘ scheme promise of 200 units free electricity Congress had promised to people of Karnataka. Forget free electricity – Congress has allowed the raising of power tariffs,” BJP National Spokesperson Sehzad Poonawala tweeted.
He stated that the Congress government has hiked the power tariff by Rs 2.89 per unit and across categories tariffs will be up by 70 paise per unit.
Poonawala said contrary to five freebies announced by the Congress in its election manifesto, the ruling party has put conditions on the free electricity scheme.
“For example, the monthly average consumption of customers (monthly average of 2022-23) will be used to calculate how many units of free electricity a house will receive under the scheme.
The customers will be eligible for only 10% more units of their monthly usage average. WHAT A FRAUD,” he explained.
In Himachal Pradesh too, Poonawala said the Congress promised free electricity of 300 units, but after coming to power it raised the rates of electricity and even betrayed the promise of Rs 1500 per month to women.
“Congress means Dhokha. Till date they have not fulfilled kisan karz maafi in Rajasthan. Will the Rahul Jodi media ask Congress & Rahul about this? I doubt it,” he said.
Yesterday, the state government issued an order with regards to the Gruha Jyoti scheme, which will be applicable only for domestic use and not commercial connections.
Under the scheme, the government will consider 12 months average energy consumption in the 2022-23 financial year and will give free electricity up to 10 per cent more than the average usage.
For instance, if a consumer uses about 100 units of electricity a month on an average, he can get free power up to 110 units of power. If he exceeds the limit, then he will have to pay from 111th unit-usage onwards.
However, if the usage exceeds 200 units of power, the consumer will have to pay the full amount of the electricity bill.
Consumers have to pay the arrears till 30 June within three months.
The electricity meter usage and the meter reading have been made mandatory. The total electricity consumption will be displayed in the monthly bill, the order said.
Every beneficiary has to link the customer ID or account ID with the Aadhaar number. Any consumer cannot integrate more than one electricity meter with the scheme.
Those who want to avail benefits will have to enroll themselves in the ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal of the state government.
