The Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (NPDCL) has made submission of Aadhaar card mandatory for all the consumers seeking electricity connections in the undivided Karimnagar district.
The NPDCL authorities informed the existing consumers also to submit their Aadhaar card number details along with the cellular phone number while paying the monthly power bills. As part of the national Urja Mitra campaign, the linkage of Aadhaar card and cellular phone numbers with power connection, was being done which will allow the authorities to send SMS alerts about the scheduled power outage, payment of bills and other information.
The linkage of Aadhar card and phone numbers of consumers with the power meters would disclose the number of connections an individual has and his monthly income etc.
The Aadhaar linkage would also check bogus consumers and pilferage of power. There are plans afoot to ensure that the consumers pay the electricity bills through bank accounts. The NPDCL authorities had told the consumers in all categories including domestic, commercial, industrial, farming sector, small-scale industries, places of worship, hospitals, schools and college etc. about the process. The undivided district has 12,59,702 connections including 8,57,500 domestic, 2,97,035 in farming sector, 78,843 commercial business establishments, industries such as cotton mills, ginning mills etc. Gram panchayats have 8,262 connections, streets lights and water schemes have 10,413 connections.
Northern Power Distribution Company Limited Bhagathnagar sub-station AE R. Venkateshwara Rao said that they were informing the persons involved in the issuance of meter reading bills to the consumers to collect the Aadhaar and cellular phone numbers to link with Urja Mitra helpline.
He informed the consumers to write down the Aadhaar card number and cellular phone number near the meter on their premises so that the persons issuing the electricity bills would feed them accordingly.