Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (File) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (File)

Residents of Delhi consuming up to 200 units of power will no longer have to pay any electricity bill. Calling it a “historic decision”, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “Our big leaders, officers get free power as well but no one calls that a freebie. I just want our aam aadmi to also get that facility.”

For consumers using more than 200 units, the existing rates will apply. The tariff for domestic consumers who use 201 to 400 units, the price is Rs 4.5/kWh, while those consuming between 401 to 800 units will have to shell out Rs 6.5/kWh. Rs 7 is the charge for those consuming from 801 to 1200 units, while Rs 8 will be levied for users using above 1200 units.

Those consuming 201 to 401 units of electricity will continue to get a 50 per cent power subsidy from the government, he added.

On why the announcement was made before the polls, Kejriwal said, “Because it has taken us time. It took time to bring the discoms to good shape. This year the power tariff has come down substantially as per the rates announced by DERC. When we sat down to calculate the subsidy bill this time, we realized that it came to almost nil.”

Fixed charges, which had become a point of contention over the past few months, with BJP, as well as Congress, hitting out at the AAP government over the sharp increase seen last year, are levied on the consumers based on the sanctioned load of each household.

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