Customer Complaints Over Vendor Security Cloud PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana In Jammu Kashmir
Several consumers have accused vendors of usurping the loan amounts for installing the rooftop solar panels for the scheme.
Published : April 14, 2026 at 5:13 PM IST
Srinagar: Despite a steady progress of PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana in Jammu and Kashmir, lack of security to consumers from empanelled vendors in Jammu and Kashmir has cast shadow over installation of rooftop solar power systems under the flagship scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2024.
Several consumers have filed complaints against vendors in Jammu and Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (DISCOMs) for swindling their loans without installing the rooftop system.
Aftab Ahmad, a consumer from Srinagar, took loan under the scheme from Jammu and Kashmir Bank in November last year, hoping that his electricity bill will come down to zero. But today Ahmad and 54 other customers are still paying hefty power bills besides bank loans with interest while being deprived from solar power.
“We are awaiting installation of a rooftop system for a year from our vendor, 'Eco Energy World', who took away our loan amount but didn't install the system. The bank credited our loans into the vendor’s account after we signed bank documents. We are paying EMIs with interest without having any installations,” he told ETV Bharat.
Under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd has empanelled more than 300 vendors on the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE)’s national portal for installation of rooftops. According to the empanelment rules, a vendor is bound to install the system within a month, failing which the DISCOMs can take penal action after consumers file grievances.
The KPDCL, which first recommended suspension of the defaulting vendor from the national portal, has also urged the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Crime Branch to investigate and take necessary action against him after it received “multiple grave complaints” from consumers.
“You are kindly requested to look into the matter and take necessary steps so that the person is unable to proceed forward with his appalling nature of complaints. Further, you are also requested that all his bank accounts (savings as well as current) are scrutinised on priority and action as applicable under relevant law be taken against the said person so as to safeguard the interests of the public at large,” Managing Director KPDCL Mahmood Ahmad Shah wrote to SSP Crime Branch Kashmir in March this year.
Burdened by the repayment of loans and electricity bills, Ahmad and other consumers came into public last week seeking installation of the system by the vendor. “Our complaints remain unresolved for a year but our EMIs are deducted by the bank. The vendor makes different excuses every day to delay installations," Ahmad said.
Their cases point out to lack of security for consumers after their loan is credited into accounts of vendors. As per the scheme, when a consumer takes loan it is credited, without subsidy amount, into the vendor's account before installation. Ahmad suggested that banks should not disburse the whole amount into the vendor's account unless the officials verify the site for installation. “Same happened with us. The vendor took our loan money but did not install the system,” he said, adding the bank officials must inspect the site to verify installation.
Vendors in the valley too are worried about their reputation after the fraud. They worry that the unresolved complaints can hit their business and people may desist from the scheme.
Mir Muzaffar, a representative of vendors in Kashmir, said that some newbies in the sector were “misinforming consumers” about the scheme.
He said before installation of a rooftop solar system, a vendor must explain feasibility, orientation of roof top and other necessary information to a consumer to avoid complaints and disruptions to the scheme later.
“After a bank loan is disbursed into the account, it is the responsibility of the vendor to install the system within 15 days or a month. He cannot run away with the money. We have formed an association to help address complaints of consumers; we will approach KPDCL for their redressal,” Muzaffar told ETV Bharat.
He said that according to the scheme, a vendor is bound for a free five-year service to the consumer and 25 years of warranty if the system does not give assured voltage, in which case the vendor has to replace the set-up. “Customers must avoid agents and directly apply on the PM Surya Ghar portal,” he said.
Despite these complaints, KPDCL said the people were showing good response to the scheme. Against a target of 44,000 installations for Kashmir province, KPDCL MD Mahmood Shah told ETV Bharat that 17005 rooftops have been installed in Kashmir until last year, which means an installed capacity of 65 Mega Watts of solar power. “We have 20,000 cases in the pipeline for installation. On a daily basis, vendors are installing 80-100 systems across the valley,,” he Shah said.
About the complaints by consumers, he said the DISCOMS initially suspend a vendor and later blacklist it if it fails to install the system. “Law enforcement agencies are also informed to take action against defaulting vendors so that nobody creates bottlenecks in smooth implementation of the flagship scheme,” added the KPDCL Managing Director.
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