Noida: The power department will issue notices to defaulting electricity consumers in the areas of Dadri, Jewar and Greater Noida, giving them two weeks to clear outstanding bills before disconnecting their supply. The discom is also expanding meter installation in rural areas, where around 70% of consumers have not cleared their dues, resulting in outstanding payments of more than Rs 80 crore.PVVNL officials said that despite increasing power supply in the rural areas of the district from 16 hours to more than 20 hours a day, bill recovery has remained low. Of the approximately 1.5 lakh rural consumers, only 30,000 to 40,000 have cleared their outstanding dues.“Despite our ongoing appeals to consumers to settle their outstanding bills, we have seen very little response. Consequently, we are now preparing to take decisive action against those who continue to default,” an official said.The discom has begun issuing notices warning consumers to pay their dues within two weeks, failing which their electricity connections will be disconnected. “The aim is to encourage prompt payments while ensuring consumers are aware of the penalties for non-compliance,” the official said.The department is also working to install electricity meters in rural areas, where many consumers are still billed on the basis of estimated average consumption. Officials said the absence of meters made accurate billing difficult, while efforts to install them had faced resistance from some consumers, requiring intervention by local officials.“The sustained availability of reliable electricity is integral to the development and welfare of rural communities. We encourage all consumers to take responsibility and contribute to ensuring a sustainable electricity supply in the district,” said superintending engineer (commercial) of PVVNL Umesh Yadav.
