PUNE: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) is offering a waiver amounting to Rs4,000 crore on pending agricultural pump electricity bills to farmers in Western Maharashtra.
According to a statement issued by the power distribution company, the farmers across western Maharashtra owe a total of Rs8,007 crore on current power bills. If these farmers clear their unpaid bills, they will be given a 50% rebate, leading to the rebate to amount to a total of Rs4,003 crore.
Meanwhile, as many as 5.52 lakh farmers in Western Maharashtra have availed the benefit of the amnesty scheme to clear their power dues for agricultural pumps. These farmers have paid a total of Rs359 crore on current bills and Rs409 crore on past dues.
According to the MSEDCL statement, farmers from the Baramati circle topped the bill repayment with 3.76 lakh settling their dues, while from the Kolhapur circle 1.42 lakh farmers have settled dues. The Pune circle has recorded a low response with only 32,683 farmers coming forward to settle their dues.
TOI had earlier reported that 51,529 farmers in MSEDCL's Aurangabad zone have availed the benefit of the amnesty scheme. The defaulter farmers have together paid Rs 9.42 crores towards their current and outstanding dues.
The MSEDCL said it is reeling under tremendous financial strain and appealed to the farmers to clear their pending power dues at the earliest. It warned that the power connections of those who fail to clear their bills on time will be snapped.
As part of the new agriculture pump policy announced on December 18, 2020, interest and delayed payment charges on power dues towards agriculture pumps have been waived. Under the scheme, farmers can get a rebate of up to 66% on past dues depending on how they choose to clear the arrears.
According to an MSEDCL statement, agricultural pump consumers paying arrears in the first year will be given a 50% discount on revised basic arrears, and interest and delay charges will be waived, which eventually means the consumers who clear all arrears in the first year will get a 66% discount.
Those who pay arrears in two years will get a 30% rebate on revised principal arrears and those who pay arrears in three years will get a 20% discount. Of the amount paid under the agricultural police 2020, 33% will be used for strengthening electrical infrastructure in the gram panchayat areas of the consumers. Another 33% will be used for strengthening electrical infrastructure in the respective districts.
The MSEDCL has also said that farmers can find out about their arrears towards agricultural pump dues by visiting the closest office or entering their consumer number on the power utility’s website.
