Team Herald
PANJIM: The Electricity Department recovered approximately Rs 211 crore from defaulting consumers who availed the One-Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme.
The OTS Scheme was launched by the Electricity Department from December 1 to 31, 2020, wherein the defaulting consumers were given the option for repayment of principal amount in one or two installments for 100 per cent waiver of delayed payment charges and part waiver of 80, 60, 40 and 20 per cents of delayed payment charges for repayment period of three, four, five and six months respectively.
The scheme was applicable to all the categories of consumers i.e active consumers, temporarily disconnected/permanently disconnected consumers and for revenue recovery cases.
The entire scheme was online and the consumer had to register through OTS Scheme portal available of the department’s website. Payment was also to be made online at OTS Scheme portal.
The scheme was first extended by one month in January 2021 with same terms and conditions and it was further extended for another month in February 2021 with option of only one or two installments for new registrations of which first installment to be paid on the registration day itself and second installment within 30 days.
Prior to the launch of OTS Scheme, the department collected Rs 110 crore from the defaulters.
Approximately 30,000 consumers had registered for the OTS Scheme and the principal amount collected through this scheme was Rs 51 crore.
The department also initiated a disconnection drive for defaulting consumers that had not applied for OTS Scheme and collected an additional Rs 50 crore through this drive.
When contacted, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral told Herald that the government is contemplating to launch a fresh OTS Scheme to recover the arrears. The proposal is in the pipeline.
