Escoms stuck with thousands of duplicate applications for Gruha Jyothi scheme

BENGALURU: The electricity supply companies (Escoms) in the state, which are receiving applications for the Gruha Jyothi free electricity scheme, are saddled with thousands of cases where multiple applications have been submitted for the same revenue register (RR) numbers.

During the initial days, when consumers faced problems with registering due to the load on the servers, several individuals have submitted multiple applications, sometimes with different Aadhaar number. Now, the Escoms are busy weeding out the multiple applications and plan to impose fines where misuse of the Gruha Jyothi scheme is detected.

Bescom MD Mahantesh Bilagi said the electricity supply companies are ‘de-duplicating’ the applications.

“In such cases, we will take an undertaking from the consumers that if they misuse the benefits of the scheme, they will have to pay the usage amount and will be liable for penal action. We will not allow any misuse of the Gruha Jyothi scheme and we will take action as per the rules under the conditons of supply”, said Bescom managing director Mahantesh Bilagi.

So far, about 1.5 crore people have applied for the Gruha Jyothi scheme of which 1,06,00,000 applications are registered. In Bescom jurisdiction, over 46 lakh applications have been received. “The Escoms are now in the process of ‘de-duplicating’ the applications due to which the registration process has slowed down”, Bilagi said.