Congress flays Jaipur discom’s ‘Tuglaki order’ over use of payment app

Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot said the discom’s action amounted to being a whimsical order, and alleged that the discom was working in an autocratic fashion.

In an indirect attack on the Raje government, the Congress has criticised the recent Jaipur Discom order that makes it mandatory for the discom employees to pay their domestic electricity bills through newly-launched ‘Bijli Mitra’ app.

The discom has also come out with a monthly lottery system to encourage digital electricity bill payments through the app. (Sakib Ali /HT Photo)

Criticising the discom order in a tweet on Saturday, Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot said it was a “Tuglaki Farman (whimsical order) and the discom was working in an autocratic fashion.”

In an order dated September 6 (HT has a copy), Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (Jaipur Discom) chairman and managing director (CMD) RG Gutpa directed all the discom employees to submit an undertaking that they would download the app and start paying their electricity bills through the app from September onwards.

The order directed the departments responsible for distributing salary to release the salaries for the month of September and subsequent months to only those employees who have submitted the undertaking.

Gutpa, however, claimed that the discom employees had voluntarily opted for the scheme. “The discom employees themselves came forward and wanted to give this undertaking. They want to create awareness about the use of the app, as it’s a very convenient way to pay the bills,” he said.

The discom has also come out with a monthly lottery system to encourage digital payments through the app. While the winners don’t get any cash, their future monthly bills are adjusted against the winning amount. The discom will pay a total amount of ₹5 lakh by adjusting the amount against the bills of 100 consumers for the coming months. The scheme is valid for consumers in the 12 districts of Rajasthan that come under the Jaipur Discom. The first lottery for the app users was opened on September 1, and 100 consumers were shortlisted out of 1,228 app users.

At present, of about 40 lakh Jaipur Discom consumers, 3.10 lakh use online digital payment mode (credit and debit card or net banking) to pay the electricity bills.