As many as 19,303 domestic electricity consumers in the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM) service area have voluntarily opted out of the Gruha Jyothi scheme and agreed to pay their monthly power bills, according to information provided by MESCOM officials during an ongoing beneficiary re-verification exercise.
The figure represents about 2% of Gruha Jyothi beneficiaries in the MESCOM area. The utility has 16.32 lakh registered Gruha Jyothi beneficiaries, of whom records for 14.62 lakh households had been verified, officials said. The re-verification process began across Karnataka on July 1 and is scheduled to continue until the end of September.
Under the scheme, domestic consumers have received free electricity since July 2023, after the Congress-led state government introduced the programme as one of its five guarantee schemes. During the current review, consumers are being given the option to voluntarily leave the scheme and resume payment of their electricity bills.
MESCOM meter readers and line workers have been visiting households to check consumer records, collect required information and complete applications through a mobile application and declaration forms. Officials said personnel have already visited all households covered by the verification exercise, although records for vacant homes, locked houses and properties whose owners live abroad remain pending.
When staff find a house locked, they leave an information notice at the property and send a message to the owner’s mobile phone through the Gruha Jyothi re-survey application. The message asks the consumer to contact the MESCOM office. A second message is sent if the consumer does not respond within two days. If there is no response after three such messages, the consumer may be treated as having chosen not to continue with the Gruha Jyothi benefit, according to a meter reader quoted by Prajavani.
More than 7,000 consumers have reportedly contacted MESCOM and completed the required documentation after receiving mobile messages. An MESCOM official said the department is confirming that applicants are residents of the concerned property before completing the verification process, in line with government directions.
Officials said a significant share of those voluntarily leaving the scheme are people living abroad. Many had initially submitted documents through the Seva Sindhu portal to receive the benefit but are now unable or unwilling to provide the documents required during the re-verification. Owners of unoccupied houses have also opted out, as such properties continue to attract a minimum electricity bill even when no one is living there.
Consumers whose records have not yet been verified have been asked to contact MESCOM before the re-verification period ends in September. The utility is continuing household visits, mobile notifications and document checks as part of the exercise.
