PM Surya Ghar: Technical Glitches Affecting Final Approvals By Discoms

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Technical glitches in the PM Surya Ghar portal continue to frustrate stakeholders across the rooftop solar industry. While initial issues related to consumer applications and document uploads by both consumers and vendors have seen some improvement, discoms (distribution companies) are still grappling with several persistent glitches that disrupt the entire process.

Many rooftop solar consumers who recently commissioned their systems are now facing numerous issues related to the functioning of the national rooftop portal. These system faults are causing delays in the final disbursement of subsidies by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and state governments.

In numerous instances, consumers are awaiting the upload of inspection reports and other details from discoms, which are necessary to complete the process and trigger the MNRE’s final subsidy disbursement.

Discoms across various regions are encountering numerous technical errors, leaving them unable to clear pending files. For instance, representatives from Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) informed Saur Energy that many pending applications, particularly inspection reports requiring approval, are not appearing on the portal, even though they have been approved offline. This has led to a daily influx of rooftop solar consumers and vendors at their offices.

As a result, consumer trust in solar vendors and discoms is eroding. An official from UPPCL in Ghaziabad shared with Saur Energy, “We are witnessing numerous cases where consumers and vendors are complaining about delays in approvals from the discom’s end. However, due to technical glitches, consumer files are being diverted to different division offices that are not connected to their jurisdiction, leaving us with no option to rectify the issue. Consequently, the relevant approval requests are not reflected in our systems, preventing us from sanctioning them.”

An inter-division letter of UPPCL, pointing out at the technical glitches in the PM Surya Ghar scheme portal.

The Ghaziabad division office has now reached out to the technical department to address the issue to streamline the smooth functioning of the PM Surya Ghar Scheme. However, this is not an isolated case. Numerous solar vendors working in the PM SUrya Ghar scheme are frustrated with the apparent delays from the discoms, which they blame for holding up the entire process. On their part, the discoms complain about the slow performance of the National Rooftop Portal and other technical issues, which further delay the approval process.

Several solar vendors say that the delays are creating a trust deficit and brand imaging of these companies among the consumers. The Renewable Energy Association of Rajasthan has called for a boycott of all meetings between solar vendors and discoms, accusing the discoms of holding numerous futile interdepartmental meetings on the PM Surya Ghar scheme without committing to a timeline for completing rooftop solar applications. The association has warned that future meetings will be pointless unless the discoms establish a fixed timeline for compliance under the scheme.