PANAJI
The Electricity Department, which drew flak for its failure to recover energy charges due from consumers to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees, has now set its eyes on recovery and hopes to halve the outstanding arrears.
Chief Electrical Engineer Stephen Fernandes said the department's current action against defaulter consumers will continue and by this yearend in December more than half the amount of arrears will be recovered.
Over the last month, sub-divisions of the department with jurisdiction across the State had tightened the screws on defaulters by resorting to disconnection where consumers failed to pay bills for more than three consecutive months. The action had led to consumers rushing to pay their dues, lest their homes and establishments be left without power supply.
Fernandes said each sub-division has recovered significant amounts of past dues from consumers through the action.
"This process will be a continuous affair throughout the year. We will recover more than 50 per cent of the outstanding arrears," Fernandes said, adding that the action is not restricted merely to defaulting domestic consumers but also against all other types of consumers -- commercial and industrial.
According to the Electricity Department's data, there are 3,185 consumers from across the State who owe the department Rs one-lakh and above. Another 728 consumers owe amounts ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs one-lakh in unpaid past bills.
Some of these consumers have challenged the claims of the department that they are defaulters in various courts. The total amount of pending arrears stuck in litigation is about Rs 182-odd crores.
Meanwhile, much of the pending electricity dues owed to the Electricity Department are due from other government departments, agencies and offices doing government work across Goa.
Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar is on record to the effect that these dues owed to the power department by other government entities may not be actually recovered but cleared through inter-departmental book entries.
