Published by Authority
No. 30] CHANDIGARH, FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023 (SRAVANA 6, 1945 SAKA)
PART I
Punjab Government Notifications and Orders
GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB
DEPARTMENT OF POWER
(Power Reforms Wing)
NOTIFICATION
The 24th July, 2023
No.Power PR011/5/2023-OSD Power/695.-The use of Aadhaar as an identity document for delivery of services or benefits or subsidies simplifies the Government delivery processes, brings in transparency and efficiency, and enables beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly in a convenient and seamless manner by obviating the need to produce multiple documents to prove one's identity;
2. And whereas, the Department of Power (hereinafter referred to as the Department), is administering the power subsidy to various categories of consumers as under the following subsidy schemes which is being implemented through the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as the Implementing Agency(ies));
Sr. Nature of subsidy Type of Beneficiaries
No.
1. Subsidy on account of 300/600 units (monthly/bi-monthly) All domestic consumers
of electricity consumption by all domestic consumers
including Freedom Fighters, SC, BC & Non-SC BPL
domestic consumers
2. Subsidy on electricity consumption of agriculture pumpsets All Agriculture consumers 3. Subsidized Energy Charges @ Rs.5.50 per unit and full All Small Power (SP) Industrial waiver of Fixed Charges to Small Power (SP) Industrial Consumers
Consumers
4. Subsidy Subsidized Energy Charges @ Rs.5.50 per Kvahand All Medium Supply (MS) Industrial 50% waiver on Fixed Charges to Medium Supply (MS) Consumers
Industrial Consumers
( 640 )PART I] PUNJAB GOVT. GAZ., JULY 28, 2023 (SRVN 6, 1945 SAKA) 641 5. Subsidized Energy Charges @ Rs.5.50 per Kvah to All Large Supply (LS) Industrial Large Supply (LS) Industrial Consumer Consumer
6. Subsidy @ Rs.3.00 per unit for domestic consumers having All domestic consumers having sanctioned load upto 7 KW sanctioned load upto 7 KW 3. And whereas, the aforesaid Scheme involves recurring expenditure incurred from the Consolidated Fund of the State of Punjab;
4. Now, therefore, in pursuance of section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (18 of 2016) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), the Government of Punjab hereby notifies the following, namely: -
i) An individual eligible for receiving the benefits under the Scheme shall hereby be required to furnish proof of possession of the Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication.
ii) Any individual desirous of availing benefits under the Scheme, who does not possess the Aadhaar number or, has not yet enrolled for Aadhaar, shall be required to make application for Aadhaar enrolment before registering for the Scheme provided that he is entitled to obtain Aadhaar as per Section3 of the said Act, andsuch individuals shall visit any Aadhaar enrolment centre (list available at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) website www.uidai.gov.in) to get enrolled for Aadhaar.
(a) As per Regulation 12 of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations 2016, the Department through its Implementing Agency, is required to offer Aadhaar enrolment facilities for the beneficiaries who are not yet enrolled for Aadhaar and in case there is no Aadhaar enrolment centre located in the respective Block or Taluka or Tehsil, the Department through its Implementing Agency shall provide Aadhaar enrolment facilities at convenient locations in coordination with the existing Registrars of UIDAI or by becoming a UIDAI Registrar themselves:
Provided that till the time Aadhaar is assigned to the individual, benefits under the Scheme shall be given to such individual, subject to the production of the following documents, namely: -
i) if he has enrolled, his Aadhaar Enrolment Identification slip; and
ii) any one of the following documents, namely:-
• Bank or Post office Passbook with Photo; or
• Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card; or
• Passport; or
• Ration Card; or
• Voter Identity Card; or
• MGNREGA card, or
• Kisan Photo passbook; or
• Driving license issued by the Licensing Authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988); or
• Certificate of identity having photo of such person issued by a Gazetted Officer or a Tehsildar on an official letter head; or any other document as specified by the Department:
642 PUNJAB GOVT. GAZ., JULY 28, 2023 (SRVN 6, 1945 SAKA) PART I]Provided further that the above documents may be checked by an officer specifically designated by the Department for that purpose.
iii) In order to provide benefits to the beneficiaries under the Scheme conveniently, the Department through its Implementing Agency shall make all the required arrangements to ensure that wide publicity through the media shall be given to the beneficiaries to make them aware of the said requirement. In all cases, where Aadhaar authentication fails due to poor biometrics of the beneficiaries or due to any other reason, the following remedial mechanisms shall be adopted, namely:
a) in case of poor fingerprint quality, iris scan or face authentication facility shall be adopted for authentication, thereby the Department through its Implementing Agency shall make provisions for iris scanners or face authentication along with finger-print authentication for delivery of benefits in seamless manner;
b) in case the biometric authentication through fingerprints or iris scan or face authentication is not successful, wherever feasible and admissible authentication by Aadhaar One Time Password or Time-based One-Time Password with limited time validity, as the case may be, shall be offered;
c) in all other cases where biometric or Aadhaar One Time Password or Time-based One-Time Password authentication is not possible, benefits under the Scheme may be given on the basis of physical Aadhaar letter whose authenticity can be verified through the Quick Response (QR) code printed on the Aadhaar letter and the necessary arrangement of QR code reader shall be provided at the convenient locations by the Department through its Implementing Agency.
5. In addition to the above, in order to ensure that no bonafide beneficiary under the Scheme is deprived of his due benefits, the Department through its Implementing Agency shall follow the exception handling mechanism as outlined in the Office Memorandum of DBT Mission, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India dated 19th December 2017.
6. This notification shall come into effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
TEJVEER SINGH,
Chandigarh
Principal Secretary to Government of Punjab,
The 21st July, 2023
Department of Power.