Bengaluru, July 01: The Karnataka State Energy Department has officially commenced a comprehensive door-to-door verification drive for all registered beneficiaries of the ‘Gruha Jyothi’ free electricity scheme starting July 1, 2026. Following an official government directive issued late Tuesday night, authorized meter readers and personnel across all five Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMs)—BESCOM, MESCOM, HESCOM, GESCOM, and CESC—are conducting simultaneous site visits.

During the field evaluation, ESCOM staffers will visit residences to log real-time power meter metrics, evaluate existing accounts, and collect valid profile parameters from consumer households. This workflow will be updated live through a designated mobile application interface along with an on-site physical declaration form signed by the applicant.

To facilitate quick validation, consumers are instructed to keep specific identity and residential credentials accessible for the visiting grid auditors. The required parameters include the applicant’s Aadhaar card (strictly for verification purpose), a recent passport-size photograph, Voter ID (EPIC), PAN card, Ration card (APL or BPL specifications), Caste certificate, and active Lease or Tenancy agreements wherever applicable. Additionally, the department will document the operational professional profile and income tax status of the consumers. The government has directed that the entire statewide exercise be concluded within a strict window of two months.

Reasons for Verification Drive:

The flagship welfare program, introduced in July 2023, provides up to 200 units of subsidized domestic electricity. However, internal department reviews conducted on June 4 identified substantial administrative variations. These loopholes include cases where initial beneficiaries had passed away without profile updates, tenants relocated without registering new credentials, and multiple commercial outlets fraudulently leveraging domestic connections to secure free power. The ongoing verification is designed to fix these structural anomalies and secure the delivery system exclusively for eligible residents, without altering the underlying framework of the scheme.

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