Chandigarh, Nov 14 (PTI) The Punjab government on Saturday extended the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) for regularising excess load on agricultural tubewell connections by another 45 days, till December 29.
It also slashed service connection charges from Rs 6,572 to Rs 2,500 per BHP and security deposit from Rs 400 to Rs 200 per BHP, with no penalty or load surcharge on voluntarily declared or inspection-detected excess load, according to an official statement.
Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said the scheme aims to give farmers a simple, affordable way to regularise unauthorised excess load on their agricultural tubewells as per the prescribed rules.
He further said the scheme was initially implemented for 45 days, from October 1, 2026 to November 14, 2026.
It has now been extended by another 45 days. Under the extended scheme, eligible agricultural tubewell consumers can regularise their unauthorised excess load until December 29, 2026.
The minister said the scheme's main feature is the financial relief provided to farmers. Earlier, farmers had to pay service connection charges of Rs. 6,572 per BHP for regularising excess load. This amount has now been reduced to
Sond further said that another major relief has been given to farmers under this scheme.
No penalty or load surcharge will be imposed on unauthorised excess load, whether voluntarily declared by farmers or detected during inspections, throughout the scheme's validity, he said.
This will enable farmers to regularise the load on their tubewells without paying any additional penalty.
