Har Ghar Bijli Yojana, Bihar

What is Har Ghar Bijli Yojana?

Har Ghar Bijli Yojana is the household electrification programme of the Government of Bihar and is one of the seven resolves of the state's Saat Nischay agenda. According to the scheme page published by South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited, the aim of Har Ghar Bijli is to provide an electricity connection to each willing household in Bihar.

Har Ghar Bijli was designed to close a specific gap. Rural households below the poverty line were already covered by the central Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), but there was no scheme for giving service connections to rural APL households. The Bihar government therefore sanctioned a state scheme, the Mukhyamantri Vidyut Sambandh Nischay Yojana (MMVSNY), to release new service connections to those APL rural households.

In October 2017 the Union Ministry of Power approved SAUBHAGYA (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana), which sanctioned Rs 3,000 per household for the connection and Rs 1,500 per household for last-mile connectivity. SAUBHAGYA allowed states that had already begun their own household electrification programmes to be eligible under the central scheme, provided the state programme was aligned with SAUBHAGYA guidelines. Bihar adopted SAUBHAGYA and MMVSNY was subsumed under it.

What was achieved

• The rural phase of the scheme was completed in October 2018.
• 32,59,041 electricity connections were released to all willing households in rural areas.
• In urban areas, connections continue to be given on demand rather than through a saturation drive.

Har Ghar Bijli is implemented by the Energy Department through Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL) and its two distribution subsidiaries, North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).

Who is eligible for a connection under Har Ghar Bijli?

A household can get a connection if:

• The household is located in Bihar and falls in the licence area of NBPDCL or SBPDCL.
• The household is without an electricity connection at present.
• The household is willing to take a metered domestic connection and to pay the monthly energy bill after the connection is released.
• The applicant can produce a valid identity proof and address proof from the lists the distribution companies publish.

Who cannot apply or is not eligible:

• A household that already has a working domestic connection in the same premises; that case is a load enhancement or a name-change request, not a new connection.
• An applicant seeking a commercial, industrial or agricultural connection, those are separate tariff categories applied for through the same New Service Connection form but not covered by the Har Ghar Bijli household drive.
• Anyone whose premises has an unpaid arrear under an earlier connection, or where a theft or disconnection case is pending. The section office will require the dues to be settled first.
• A household outside Bihar, since the scheme is a state programme funded and run through BSPHCL.

Under SAUBHAGYA norms the unelectrified household is identified from the socio-economic data and the distribution company's survey; a household not on the list is not refused, but is served through the ordinary on-demand new service connection route.

What does a household actually pay?

Har Ghar Bijli's central benefit is that no money is collected at the application stage. The SBPDCL new connection instructions state that no payment will be accepted from the consumer at the time of filling the application form, and that the new service connection charges will be levied from the bill of the consumer afterwards.

That means:

• At application: Rs 0.
• After release: the service connection charge appears in the electricity bill, spread out rather than demanded as a lump sum at the door.
• Every month: the metered energy charge at the applicable domestic tariff, which the consumer pays like any other consumer.

Anyone who asks you for cash to "arrange" a Har Ghar Bijli connection is acting outside the scheme. Report it on 1912.

What documents are required for Har Ghar Bijli?

Keep scanned copies of the identity and address proof ready before you start the online form, as the portal asks you to upload them in the relevant section.

How to apply for Har Ghar Bijli online

These steps follow the LT new connection instructions published by SBPDCL; the NBPDCL process is identical on its own site.

1. Open https://sbpdcl.co.in if your district is in south Bihar, or https://nbpdcl.co.in if it is in north Bihar.
2. On the left-hand menu, select New Connection, then choose New Service Connection from the expanded menu.
3. Enter your mobile number, select your district, and click Generate OTP.
4. Fill in the online application form with your name, full address, category of connection and the load you require.
5. Upload the scanned identity proof and address proof in the relevant section of the form.
6. Re-examine every detail entered, read the declaration at the end of the form carefully, enter the OTP received on your mobile number and click Submit.
7. Note down the Request Number generated on submission and save it, it is the only reference for tracking the application.
8. Track progress later through the SUVIDHA Consumer Activities link on the same website, or through the SUVIDHA mobile app.

How to apply for Har Ghar Bijli offline

1. Visit your local electricity section office or the office of the Junior Electrical Engineer for your area with the original identity and address proof plus one photocopy set.
2. Ask for the LT domestic new service connection form, fill it in and submit it with the photocopies.
3. Collect the acknowledgement carrying the request number; it is used for every follow-up.
4. Alternatively, use a camp or Vidyut Shivir organised by NBPDCL or SBPDCL in your panchayat, where the same form is accepted on the spot.

How to check your Har Ghar Bijli connection status

1. Open nbpdcl.co.in or sbpdcl.co.in and click the SUVIDHA Consumer Activities link, or open the SUVIDHA mobile app.
2. Enter the Request Number saved when you submitted the application.
3. Read the current stage — application received, site survey done, estimate raised, meter allotted, or connection released.
4. If the status has not moved for several weeks, call 1912 or 1800-202-2813 with the request number, and escalate to the section office in person if the call does not resolve it.

Why a Har Ghar Bijli application gets held up

• Old arrears at the same premises, including dues from a previous occupant. These are the single most common blocker and must be cleared first.
• Identity or address proof mismatch between the uploaded document and the name entered in the form.
• The premises is not within the reach of an existing LT line, so a pole or line extension has to be sanctioned before the meter can be released.
• Wrong district selected, sending the request to the wrong distribution company.
• Mobile number not reachable, so the field team cannot fix a survey visit.
• A commercial load declared on a domestic application form, which changes the tariff category and requires a fresh application.

Help and grievance redressal

• Toll-free consumer helpline: 1912, with 1800-202-2813 as an alternate toll-free number. Both are published at the top of the NBPDCL and SBPDCL websites.
• Online Complaint; Complaint Registration on nbpdcl.co.in and sbpdcl.co.in for written complaints about supply, billing or a pending connection.
• SUVIDHA app, downloadable from both websites, for bill payment, complaint registration and application tracking.
• Channel of Complaint page on the NBPDCL site, which lists the escalation ladder from the section office up to the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum.
• BSPHCL E-Corner at hargharbijli.bsphcl.co.in, the departmental portal that hosts the Har Ghar Bijli scheme dashboard and the Grievance Portal.

No official under Har Ghar Bijli will ask a household for cash at the door to release a connection. The connection charge is recovered only through the electricity bill.