Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Aug 4: The Maharashtra Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday approved the implementation of a Composite Billing System for electricity consumption by all state government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) offices served by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking in Mumbai.
Under the new system, all government electricity connections under BEST will shift to the prepaid mode from April 1, 2026.
According to an official statement, all departments have been directed to register on the composite billing portal and verify electricity connection details within 30 days. The Finance Department will formulate procedures for advance fund allocation, while the Energy Department will conduct quarterly reconciliations.
The system will provide a single dashboard offering real-time electricity consumption, outstanding dues, transaction history and management information system (MIS) data. It will also feature an auto-debit facility to eliminate payment delays, late fees and interest penalties, while enabling eligible consumers to avail tariff concessions under the 'Go Green' initiative and prepaid usage schemes.
The initiative will initially cover 10,017 consumers across 322 groups under BEST's authorised code system, besides 869 state government consumers across 104 groups. The rollout will take place in four phases — departmental registration, consumer verification, fund allocation and system activation.
In another key decision, the Cabinet approved a three-year extension of the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana, extending the farmers' accident protection scheme till March 31, 2031.
The scope of the scheme has also been widened to include landless agricultural labourers directly engaged in farming, women farmers holding certificates under the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026, and their family members.
The Cabinet removed the earlier cap of two beneficiaries per household. All eligible family members aged between 10 and 75 years will now be covered.
The scheme has also been expanded to include deaths or disabilities caused by internal bleeding resulting from accidents and heatstroke, in addition to existing coverage for incidents such as lightning, floods, snake and scorpion bites, electric shock and road accidents. Financial assistance ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh will be provided.
The government has fixed a two-month deadline for submitting claims and approved the launch of an integrated online portal to transfer compensation directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The appellate committee will now be headed by the Additional Collector instead of the District Collector. The Cabinet sanctioned Rs 200 crore for implementation of the expanded scheme.
To address the growing backlog of second appeals under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Cabinet also approved the creation of three temporary posts of Additional State Information Commissioners for a period of three years.
The new commissioners will be posted at the Brihanmumbai, Nashik and Amravati benches. A total of 18 supporting posts have also been sanctioned, including deputed officers and contractual staff. The Chief Information Commissioner has been authorised to reassign commissioners and transfer pending cases among benches based on workload.
The Cabinet further approved the establishment of new courts, public prosecutor offices and judicial posts in Sillod (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district), Chandwad (Nashik), Kinwat (Nanded), Kej (Beed) and Pimpri Chinchwad (Pune) to strengthen judicial infrastructure and reduce pendency of cases.