PSPCL’s defaulting amount from govt and non-govt consumers mounts

Posted On : May 19, 2024

Every year the defaulting amount of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) from government and non-government consumers is increasing despite a one-time settlement scheme and 300 units of monthly free power for domestic consumers. In PSPCL West zone and the Border zone are almost equal to each other in defaulting amounts of Rs 1262 crores each for government and non-government defaulters. This is followed by the south zone of Rs.1033 crore, the north zone of Rs. 649 crore, and the central zone of Rs.371 crore. The PSPCL.s defaulting amount has risen to Rs.4637 crores by the end of February 24 which includes Rs.2764 crores from government departments and Rs.1873 crores from other consumers. At the end of the last financial year 2022-23 the defaulting amount was Rs.4240 crores. The pending bills of various state government departments have increased by more than 13 % from Rs. 2430 crores to RS.2764 crores and for non-government consumers the increase is of 3.5% from Rs.1810 crores to Rs.1873 crores. The four big defaulters are the water supply and sanitation department with Rs.1085 crores, Local government with Rs.996 crores, Rural Development and Panchayat Rs. 318 crores, and Health department with Rs.150 crores. These four departments cumulatively owe Rs 2,549 crores, which is 92.2 percent of the total defaulting amount. The other departments with significant dues are the Sewerage Board (Rs 77 crore), Home Affairs and Jails (Rs 24 crore), and Public Works Rs 22 crore. There are 8 circles of PSPCL each with a defaulting amount of Rs. 150 crores or more by government departments, led by Gurdaspur Rs.306 crore, Bhatinda Rs.253 crore, Muktsar Rs.253 crore, Amritsar City 185 crores and Mohali 181 crores. The other three circles in this category are Patiala, Amritsar sub-urban, and Sangrur. Amongst non-government defaulters, there are 10 circles with more than Rs.100 crores against each. The four big circles in the nongovernment defaulting amount are Sub-urban Amritsar Rs.192 crores, Muktsar Rs.191 crores, and Bhatinda Rs.162 crores. And Jalandhar Rs.Rs.159 crores respectively. The financial survival of the PSPCL hinges on the clearance of dues of defaulting government departments and the timely payment of subsidies. The PSPCL failed to pay in time employees’ salaries and pensions sometime back. The cash-strapped PSPCL is now dependent on long-term and short-term loans.