Tenants in the Capital will now get free electricity up to 200 units under a new Delhi government scheme which will allow them to install prepaid meters, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Wednesday.
Tenants, who constitute over half of the city’s population of over 2 crore according to government estimates, will also be entitled to get prepaid power meters installed at rented properties which will supply electricity at subsidised rates under the “Mukhyamantri Kirayedar Power Meter Yojana”, Mr. Kejriwal announced at a press conference here.
Under the scheme, tenants will be able to avail the benefits of free electricity up to 200 units as well as the subsidy for consumers using 200-400 units per month. The meters will be installed only on domestic consumer properties, the Delhi government said.
No-objection certificate
“Tenants, so far, were not able to get a separate power meter because they were required to take a no-objection certificate [NoC] from the homeowner to get an independent connection. Tenants will now get a meter using just two documents: rent agreement/receipt or any identity card,” said the Chief Minister.
“These meters will also have stickers bearing the name of the scheme,” he said.
While those incurring bills for consumption up to 200 units are exempted from paying the bill, if the consumption is between 201 to 400 units, half the subsidy is being given.
The cost of these meters, Mr. Kejriwal said, will be the same as incurred by property owners applying for domestic power connections in Delhi. “There are two kinds of tenants in Delhi: those who live in flats or properties which already have power connections and those who do not have such connections,” he said.
“The intent of the scheme is to provide benefits to this other category of multiple tenants living in separate dwelling units at the same property, such as those belonging to the lower middle class, especially at unauthorised colonies in Delhi,” he further said.
There is only one power meter for properties with many tenants, Mr. Kejriwal elaborated, which results in high power unit consumption which further leads to “huge electricity bills”.
Beneficial to landlords
“The landlord charges tenants ₹8-₹10 per unit. With separate connections, many tenants will now get free electricity. On the other hand, the landlord is also likely to get the benefit of subsidy on unit consumption for up to 400 units. The scheme is beneficial to the tenant as well as to the landlord,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Outgoing tenants, who pay ₹3,000 as security for such connections will be able to reclaim the security amount when vacating the property they had rented. New tenants will have the option to renew these prepaid power connections as and when they take the same property up on rent, he said.
Counter to BJP
The announcement, sources in the BJP admitted, is a significant counter to its ongoing efforts to garner support from voters residing at an estimated 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi. The BJP, in fact, was poised to take up the issue of lack of any benefits of power and water connection subsidies accruing to citizens staying in rent at unauthorised colonies on the basis of a survey that was commissioned to seek their satisfaction level with the AAP government.
As reported by The Hindu on September 10, two ongoing surveys will determine the course of the BJP’s campaign and strategy for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections scheduled early next year. Being carried out by private agencies, the larger among the two surveys is a pan-Delhi one, which is currently under way across all 70 Assembly constituencies.
The other seeks to identify loopholes in the AAP government’s flagship power and water subsidy schemes in unauthorised colonies. The results of these surveys are expected to be in by mid-October.
