Jammu, Oct 30: Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday raised serious concerns over the functioning of Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (JPDCL) and Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL), alleging deficiencies in transparency, regional equity, consumer services and grievance redressal.
The party demanded immediate relief for consumers facing inflated bills, defective smart meters and excessive power cuts. It further questioned loss-linked power curtailment schedules, under which feeder-level losses reportedly determine power cuts, penalising honest, bill-paying consumers for electricity theft, revenue leakage and distribution inefficiencies.
Former MLC and spokesperson Girdhari Lal Raina joined by spokesperson Dr Abhijeet Jasrotia and state media in-charge Dr Pardeep Mahotra, while addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters, Trikuta Nagar, Jammu, demanded separate reporting of JPDCL and KPDCL and accountability.
Raina pointed out that despite the legal unbundling of JPDCL and KPDCL from PDD in October 2019, their performance is often presented through combined figures, concealing regional deficiencies. He stressed that the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) also called for granular, circle-wise and subdivision-wise reporting of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses.
Citing reported figures, he said JPDCL recorded AT&C losses of 27.45 percent in FY 2024–25 against 33.54 percent for KPDCL, with losses reaching 46 percent in certain KPDCL feeder areas compared to around 20 percent in some JPDCL areas. He demanded independent assessments of both corporations and said that Jammu’s consumers must not pay for systemic failures.
“Defective, damaged and non-communicating smart meters, coupled with delayed replacements, further aggravate outages and consumer hardship,” J&K BJP spokespersons added.
On smart metering and inflated bills, Raina highlighted reports of thousands of defective meters and demanded an authoritative count, time-bound replacement and accountability of installation and maintenance agencies. He said inaccurate meter recording or transmission led to estimated or average billing and unexpectedly high bills.
“Consumers must receive transparent billing calculations, prompt correction of disputed bills and effective grievance redressal,” Raina said.
Questioning RDSS Implementation, Dr Jasrotia criticised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the government’s inconsistent position on smart metering. He highlighted the Centre’s Rs 5,641.91 Cr sanction under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) for smart prepaid meters and infrastructure upgrades through both corporations. The scheme targets AT&C losses of 12–15 percent and elimination of the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Realizable Revenue (ARR).
He blamed inadequate progress by the NC government and demanded corporation-wise details of expenditure, implementation and measurable outcomes, questioning the NC government’s progress.
Jasrotia highlighted the five-point demands by BJP, including separate JPDCL and KPDCL performance data, including circle-wise and subdivision-wise AT&C losses; transparent audit of power procurement, allocation, billing, revenue realization and curtailment; time-bound replacement of defective smart meters and correction of inaccurate bills; review of loss-linked power cuts to protect honest consumers and time-bound grievance redressal with clearly fixed accountability.
The BJP asserted that electricity was an essential public service, not a privilege, and honest consumers must not suffer for administrative failures, faulty meters and distribution inefficiencies.
