Delhiites to get choice to opt out of power subsidy scheme

Some citizens who are financially stable have said they do not want to benefit from the scheme: Arvind Kejwriwal

Starting October 1, residents of Delhi will be offered the opportunity to opt out of receiving subsidy on their electricity bill, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. He said the Delhi Cabinet had approved the continuation of the free electricity scheme but had taken into account suggestions received from Delhiites who were financially stable who had said that they did not want to benefit from the scheme and that the government should instead spend the money on building schools and hospitals.

“The Delhi Cabinet approved the continuation of the free electricity scheme today [on Thursday] wherein, 47,11,176 families are to benefit from the subsidy. All consumers will be given a choice to opt out of the subsidy or continue getting free electricity from October 1. On the basis of the choices registered, we will provide free electricity to those families who wish to seek the benefit of the scheme,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

He added that the process of asking and giving the people a choice to opt for subsidised or non-subsidised electricity would begin very soon.

The government said there were 58,18,231 electricity consumer connections in Delhi and the number of subsidised connections total up to 47,16,075 consumers across the Union Territory. Domestic consumers get subsidy in two forms: first, those consumers who use up to 200 units a month were given 100% subsidy — there were 30,39,766 such consumers at the moment. The second category was of those consumers who use 201-400 units, who were given up to ₹800 in subsidy — there were 16,59,976 such consumers.