Extending the time for the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to pay overdue electricity bills will defeat its very purpose, Power Minister James Sangma said in the Assembly today.
“To keep extending it defeats the very purpose of having a one-time settlement. The one-time settlement is a window of opportunity for those people to avail certain schemes within a certain stipulated time,” Sangma said.
The Congress MLA from Nongpoh, Mayralborn Syiem, had sought to know if the government would further extend the scheme after March 31.
Syiem also claimed that those who have had their electricity supply cut off because of non-payment of bills are still living in the dark despite trying to pay off the amount owed by them piecemeal and wondered “whether the same yardstick applies for factories where crores of rupees are pending”.
Sangma, in his reply, said that the one-time settlement scheme is structured and once the defaulting party pays a partial amount then the electricity connection is restored.
