In a major relief for farmers ahead of the paddy season, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has approved a Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) on May 29, allowing farmers to regularise the unauthorised additional load on their tubewell connections at concessional rates without any penalty.
In a petition filed by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, the PSERC noted that the scheme will remain open for 45 days and may be extended for up to three months.
Under the scheme, farmers will be able to declare and regularise additional motor capacity by paying service connection charges (SCC) of Rs 2,500 per BHP, a unit used to measure a motor’s power output.
Earlier, the charge was Rs 6,572 per BHP. The security (consumption) charge has also been reduced from Rs 400 per BHP to Rs 200 per BHP.
In its petition, the PSPCL said many farmers have increased the capacity of their submersible motors over the years due to continuous groundwater depletion, which has forced them to use more powerful pumps to draw water. However, these upgrades were often carried out without informing the utility.
According to the PSPCL, the unrecorded additional load puts extra pressure on transformers and the distribution network, leading to transformer failures, power supply disruptions and inaccurate assessment of electricity demand. It also causes revenue losses to the utility.
To address the issue, PSPCL officials and enforcement teams may visit farms during the scheme period to help farmers assess and declare any unauthorised load. No penalty or load surcharge will be imposed on additional load detected or voluntarily disclosed during this period. Farmers will, however, have to either remove the excess load or get it regularised under the scheme.
Additionally, the PSPCL in its petition cited the success of a similar scheme introduced in 2024, under which 84,118 farmers regularised about 3.69 lakh BHP of additional load. The utility collected Rs 92.20 crore in service connection charges and Rs 7.37 crore in security charges.
While approving the scheme, the commission observed that action against unauthorised load often leads to disputes with farmers. It directed that expenditure on transformer upgrades or other system improvements required due to regularised load would be borne by PSPCL and not passed on to consumers through electricity tariffs.
Farmers can avail of the scheme by submitting a self-declaration form and depositing the charges, without going through the usual load extension process.
Dilbagh Singh Gill, state president of the Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union, said, “Waiving the penalty on additional load has been a long-pending demand of farmers. After several protests, the department has finally provided relief."
