Patna, South Bihar Pwer Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL) has initiated a four-month intensive campaign to recover long-standing consumer arrears, warning that electricity connections of at least ten defaulters per supply sub-division will be disconnected daily from December 1 onwards.
In an internal directive issued by Arvind Kumar, General Manager (Revenue), the company has authorised every electrical supply sub-division to engage three additional personnel on daily-wage terms until 31 March 2026. The 2,500 temporary staff, who will receive a monthly honorarium of ₹15,000, will be equipped with electronic wallets and assigned strict daily targets: visit 30 high-value defaulters, achieve minimum collections of ₹20,000, and ensure disconnection of ten consumers whose outstanding dues exceed ₹25,000 and who are deemed capable of payment.
The move comes as Bihar’s much-publicised scheme offering 125 units of free electricity to domestic consumers has inadvertently encouraged non-payment of historical dues. Although current bills for millions of households have fallen to zero under the subsidy, pre-existing arrears — on which a 1.5 per cent monthly surcharge continues to accrue — remain largely untouched.
“Only four months remain in the current financial year,” the circular notes. “Despite zero billing for a large section of consumers, legacy dues are not being cleared, impacting the company’s revenue position.”
Industry sources indicate that outstanding consumer dues across Bihar’s two distribution companies (South and North Bihar) run into several thousand crore rupees, with a significant portion classified as “recoverable” from solvent defaulters.
The campaign marks a return to on-ground enforcement after years of relatively lenient recovery practices. Disconnection for non-payment had become rare in recent times, partly due to political sensitivities around electricity access and partly because of staffing constraints at the field level.
SBPDCL’s decision to hire temporary revenue-recovery teams on daily wages is intended to bypass permanent staffing bottlenecks while creating measurable accountability. Each team’s performance will be tracked daily, with disconnection numbers serving as a key performance indicator.
Consumer activists have expressed concern that aggressive disconnection in winter months could cause hardship, particularly if applied indiscriminately. The company, however, has stressed that only “capable yet wilful” defaulters above the ₹25,000 threshold will face supply cuts, and that reconnection will be immediate upon clearance of arrears.
The intensified drive is expected to continue until the end of the 2025-26 financial year, after which the utility will review its effectiveness and decide on longer-term staffing and enforcement strategies.
