This summer has been harsh for 40-year-old Amarjeet Chauhan, a footwear vendor who sells his merchandise on a pavement in northeast Delhi’s Sonia Vihar, and his family of six. Chauhan had to pay monthly power bills ranging from ₹400 to ₹1,200 between April and August for his two-room rented accommodation, which has two ceiling fans, two bulbs, a tube light, an old television set, and a small refrigerator.
They cannot avail of government waivers such as not having to pay anything for up to 200 units a month, because they do not have a separate power connection, but a sub-meter instead.
The entire building, which has five more families renting homes, has one power connection, with each household equipped with a sub-meter.
