•Relief Also Granted in Service Connection Charges and Security Deposit: Power Minister Sond
Chandigarh, November 14:
In a major relief for Punjab’s farmers, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led state Government has extended the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) for regularisation of excess load on agricultural tubewell connections by another 45 days, till December 29, 2026, while slashing service connection charges from Rs. 6,572 to just Rs. 2,500 per BHP and security deposit from Rs. 400 to Rs. 200 per BHP, with no penalty or load surcharge on voluntarily declared or inspection-detected excess load.
Sharing this information, Punjab Power Minister S. Tarunpreet Singh Sond said that the scheme, launched on the directions of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, aims to provide farmers a simple and affordable opportunity to regularise the unauthorised excess load on their agricultural tubewells as per the prescribed rules.
He further said that the scheme was initially implemented for 45 days, from October 1, 2026 to November 14, 2026. It has now been extended by another 45 days. Under the extended scheme, eligible agricultural tubewell consumers can get their unauthorised excess load regularised till December 29, 2026.
The Power Minister said that the main feature of the scheme is the financial relief provided to farmers. Earlier, farmers had to pay service connection charges of Rs. 6,572 per BHP for regularising excess load. This amount has now been reduced to just Rs. 2,500 per BHP. Similarly, the security deposit has also been reduced from Rs. 400 to Rs. 200 per BHP.
S. Sond further said that another major relief has been given to farmers under this scheme. No penalty or load surcharge will be imposed on unauthorised excess load, whether voluntarily declared by farmers or detected during inspections, throughout the validity of the scheme. This will enable farmers to regularise the load on their tubewells without paying any additional penalty.
The Power Minister urged farmers to make maximum use of this extended period and get the unauthorised excess load on their agricultural tubewells regularised as per the prescribed rules before December 29, 2026.
