HT
After bills, PSEB to target load violation
Gurpreet Singh Nibber
Patiala

State Electricity Board (PSEB) decided to start billing the farm- ers for the power consumed by their tubewells, it also been decid- ed to crack down on those draw- ing more than the declared load.
Starting with the coming paddy season, the board plans to launch an extensive drive to check tubewells across the state.

Ever since 1996, when power for tubewells was made free, the loads have not been checked with the PSEB field staff tak- ing it easy on the issue.

A board official said farm- ers indulging in power theft by not declaring the exact load would have to pay a heavy penal- ty, adding there were likely to be a large number of such cases.
In all, there are 10.98 lakh tube- wells in the state.

Though the PSEB has from time to time offered “voluntary disclosure schemes“ to farm- ers, and also reduced the charges for enhancing tubewell load from Rs 3,600 per BHP to Rs 1,200, the result has not been encouraging.

Owing to the steep fall in subsoil water, farmers have been going deeper to tap into ground water reserves. This results in need for tubewell motors with greater power -- between 20 and 30 BHP.

While the PSEB has decid- ed to charge farmers Rs 50 per BHP per month, the rate decid- ed by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) is Rs 283. The gap will have to be reim- bursed to the PSEB by the gov- ernment as subsidy, amount- ing to around Rs 2,800 crore, though the exact amount would be declared in the revised PSERC tariff order expected by the end of the month.

The government would still be a gainer, as thus far it had to pay the entire amount for the power supplied to farmers.