NOIDA: Only 13,500 consumers out of a total of 1.31 lakh defaulters in Noida availed the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme in the first phase. The scheme was rolled out by UPPCL in three phases from Dec 15, 2024, to Jan 31, 2025.
While the said consumers are of the first phase, clearing Rs 30.40 cr dues out of a total of Rs 347 cr, officials maintain strict implementation of the OTS scheme henceforth.
Also, in a meeting with the technical team of the power department over the weekend, chief engineer Noida zone directed that estimates for the year 2025 should be prepared as infra upgrade and maintenance works of FYs 2023-24 and 2024-25 were directed to be completed by March 31.
Harish Bansal, chief zonal engineer of the Noida power department, PVVNL stated that recovery has to be done from all the remaining 1.17 lakh defaulters by the end of this month.
“For this, camps will be set up. I have also directed that big defaulters should be identified, and their line should be disconnected,” he said.
The department has designated the month of Feb as the maintenance month when activities such as trimming overgrown trees and branches, and other repairs would be carried out.
Officials maintain that the OTS scheme should be widely publicised and public representatives should be contacted and told about the benefits of this scheme.
Apart from that, the vigilance team should be used in hard and theft-prone areas of the city.
The scheme was introduced to help consumers clear outstanding electricity dues. It offers significant discounts on the surcharge of unpaid bills as of Sep 30, 2024.
Farmers and domestic consumers stand to benefit the most, with a 100% waiver on outstanding dues if paid in full during the first phase, which ended on Dec 31.
Consumers registering under the three phases will receive a subsidy on the surcharge: 100% in the first phase, 80% in the second phase (Jan 1–15), and 70% in the third phase (Jan 16–31). Additionally, the scheme includes instalment options and extends to domestic, commercial, private institutional, industrial, and permanently disconnected consumers.
Additionally, in a meeting with the technical team of the power department over the weekend including senior power department officials like the superintending engineer of work circle 2, all executive engineers, SDOs, and JEs, Harish Bansal held discussions regarding the preparations of supply for the onset of upcoming summers and achieving commercial targets of the circle as well as the OTS scheme.
He directed that estimates for the year 2025 should be prepared now so that the tender can be issued immediately after its approval from UPPCL.
