The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has noted that “meagre progress” has been made in the recovery of electricity bill arrears under a one-time settlement scheme (OTS-2023) of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
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The commission has also refused to extend OTS-2023 beyond December 31, although government departments and agencies have been given a concession.
Commission sources, citing a KSEB status report, said only ₹29.8 crore had been recovered so far, out of the total arrears of ₹3,585.69 crore as on June 30 this year.
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KSEB plea
“The commission noted the meagre progress in the arrears so far settled under OTS 2023 compared to the total outstanding arrears,” the commission said in a December 27 order. It declined to entertain a KSEB plea to extend the OTS up to March 31, 2024, observing that “further extension of the scheme at this juncture does not serve the intended objective of the OTS Scheme 2023.”
The commission, headed by T.K. Jose, also noted it had approved “a longer period of five months and 12 days” for the scheme, from July 20 to December 31.
However, the commission has given government departments/agencies whose transactions are carried out through treasuries time till March 31 for settling their arrears through the OTS. This is in consideration of the treasury restrictions announced by the State government.
As per merit of cases
However, this benefit will not be available to public sector units and government agencies that have their own source of income and manage bank accounts for operations. The commission has also allowed the KSEB management to examine the merit of individual cases and allow extensions beyond December 31.