4 days ago
J&K govt extends interest amnesty scheme on power bills till March 2026
Jammu and Kashmir government has yet again extended the power amnesty scheme, offering waiver of interest on long pending bills to domestic consumers of the Union territory. The consumers can pay their pending bills ending March 2025 without any tax till March 2026. In 2022, Jammu and Kashmir's Administrative Council (AC) under the chairmanship of LG Manoj Sinha, had approved the amnesty scheme for domestic power consumers in the UT. (File)
Introduced in September 2022 by lieutenant governor-led administration, officials said that the extension of the scheme, by the elected government this time, was aimed at providing relief to 6 lakh domestic electricity consumers with outstanding electricity dues. This is the second extension in the past 15 months.
'Sanction is hereby accorded to the extension of Amnesty in favour of the domestic consumers granted vide government orders of September 12, 2022 and March 15, 2024, for the period ending March 31, 2026, subject to same terms and conditions except that 100% waiver of interest and surcharge is allowed in respect of outstanding amount as on March 31, 2025,' said an order issued by H Rajesh Prasad, principal secretary to government, power development department.
'It is further ordered that there shall be no further extension of the Amnesty,' the order said.
In 2022, Jammu and Kashmir's Administrative Council (AC) under the chairmanship of LG Manoj Sinha, had approved the amnesty scheme for domestic power consumers in the UT. The government had said that the decision was going to benefit more than 5.50 lakh domestic consumers by waiving off an amount of ₹937.34 crore, accumulated as surcharge or interest, on account of non-payment of timely only had to pay their principal amounts.
However, in May 2024, the scheme was extended till March 2025 as not many consumers had come forward to avail the scheme. As many as 13,985 domestic consumers had availed the scheme for waiver on late payment surcharge with KDPCL collecting revenue of ₹12.41 crore till May 22, 2024.
A government spokesperson said that domestic consumers can clear their electricity bills by paying only the principal amount, while the interest accrued upto March 31, 2025, shall be completely waived. The consumers who pay their principal amount will get a full waiver on interest.
'The scheme is applicable to all domestic electricity consumers with pending bills as of March 31, 2025. This is the final amnesty scheme for domestic users approved in the furtherance to the announcement made by the J&K chief minister,' said the spokesperson.
To avail the benefits of this scheme, the consumers have to pay the outstanding dues by March 31, 2026, in equal instalments and must also pay their current bills regularly without failure.
'Failure to pay any instalment or current bill will result in off-amnesty benefits and could lead to penalties,' said the spokesperson.
