Gruha Jyothi for new connections, tenants and when you shift house

First, the one rule that explains everything

If you need the basics of the scheme (who is eligible, the 200-unit cap, why a bill can still come), read our main Gruha Jyothi guide first. This post assumes you know them.

The one rule that matters when you move: the entitlement sits on the meter, the registration sits on your Aadhaar.

• The free units you get are worked out from the consumption history of that meter (RR number / account ID), not from your family's history.
• One Aadhaar can be linked to only one Gruha Jyothi registration at a time.
• So when you shift, your Aadhaar must be freed from the old meter, and you must register again on the new meter. Your old entitlement does not travel with you.

New houses and new connections: how much is free?

A brand-new meter has no 2022-23 history, so the government uses a state average instead. News reports from 2025 (The Hans India, Daijiworld, March 2025) put this at about 58 units a month: a state domestic average of about 53 units plus a margin. The same reports said the average had not been revised since the scheme started in 2023, even though an annual revision had been announced, because revising it would cost the government several hundred crore rupees a year.

You will see other figures online (55 units, 63 units). We could not find an official order that confirms those, so treat them with care. What counts is the entitled units printed on your own bill.

The 2024 change: 10 extra units instead of 10%

At launch in 2023, the margin was average plus 10%. On 18 January 2024 the state Cabinet changed this to a flat 10 extra units, applied from the following billing cycle (reported by The South First and Deccan Herald). The reasoning was simple: a household using 30 units got only 3 extra units under the 10% rule, which the government accepted was unfair to low users.

• For low users the change helps: 40 units average now means about 50 units free instead of 44.
• Reports were not fully consistent on what happens above about 100 units, where 10% is more than 10 units. Some reports described the flat 10 as applying to everyone. Others described it as being for those below about 90 units. We could not find the government order text. Your bill's "entitled units" line is the final answer.

Tenants: what you get and what to ask for

A tenant can register on the meter of the portion they live in, using the rental agreement. Problems come from the meter's history:

• If the previous tenant used little power, you inherit their low entitlement. Reports from 2024 gave the example of a family used to 150 units moving into a house where the meter average was 100: they must stay under 100 or pay for the extra.
• BESCOM officials told Deccan Herald that tenants who moved in recently (less than 12 months) can get the state average of 53 units plus 10% by going to the subdivision office with the rental agreement. This is worth asking for when the inherited average is lower than that. Check whether the same is done in your ESCOM.
• If the previous tenant never delinked, the meter will still show their Aadhaar and you cannot register. Ask them to delink online (it takes five minutes with OTP), or ask the owner to take it up at the subdivision.

Shifting house: delink, then re-register

Karnataka added an online delink option on Seva Sindhu after many tenants found they could not register at a new house because their Aadhaar was still tied to the old RR number. You can also do it offline at the ESCOM office with your RR number and Aadhaar.

Field advice: do the delink before you leave. Once the new tenant or owner moves in, chasing the OTP on an old phone number or the old RR number becomes a headache. Keep a screenshot of the delink and the new application acknowledgement.

Checking status and the 2026 verification drive

To check an application, use the Track Status page on Seva Sindhu with your application or acknowledgement number. The Seva Sindhu mobile app also works. The simplest check is still the bill: once registration is active, the bill shows the scheme and your entitled units.

2026 door-to-door verification. From 1 July 2026 all five ESCOMs began a house-to-house re-verification of Gruha Jyothi beneficiaries. Meter readers collect details through a mobile app and a declaration form. Reported documents include Aadhaar, a photo, voter ID, ration card and the rental agreement for tenants. The deadline was extended from 31 August to 30 September 2026. The government said the aim was to catch misuse such as multiple meters in one name, people not living at the address, and commercial use. Reports warned that households which refused verification could lose the benefit.

If your house was locked when the reader came, or you were not covered, contact your subdivision. For BESCOM, the verification helplines reported by The News Minute were 9480816111, 9480816112, 9480816113 and 9480816114.

Mistakes we see often

• Registering the owner's Aadhaar for a tenant's meter. The owner then cannot register for their own house.
• Applying with the RR number of the wrong portion. Common in buildings where meters are not labelled. Match the meter serial number on the board to the bill.
• Expecting the old entitlement to follow you. It never does.
• Name transfer left pending. After buying a house, put the connection in your name. See electricity name transfer.
• Using the house for a shop or office. Gruha Jyothi is for domestic use only. Commercial use on a domestic meter can also lead to back-billing.

Three situations, worked through

1. Owner moves out and rents the house. A family in Dharwad rents out their own house and moves into a rented flat in Hubballi. The owner's Aadhaar is still on the house meter, so the new tenant cannot register. The owner should delink from the house meter before the tenant moves in, then register on the flat's meter. Each family then has its own registration on the meter where it lives.

2. A new floor on an old house. The owner builds a first floor for a tenant. If the floor is fed from the ground-floor meter, the two families share one registration and one 200-unit limit, and both bills cross it in summer. A separate meter for the rented floor gives the tenant a new connection on the state average and keeps the owner's own history intact.

3. A new house, first summer. A family moves into a newly built house with a new permanent connection. The bill shows an entitlement of about 58 units. In April they use 160 units: they pay for about 102 units, but they are still under 200, so they do not lose the scheme. If an AC and a geyser push them to 205, the whole month is billed. Our bill calculator shows what a full month would cost on your sanctioned load.

In each case, the fix is the same: one meter per household, one Aadhaar per meter, and a check of the entitled units on the first bill after any change.

Questions

Sources

Rules and figures in this article were checked against these sources on 30 Sep 2026. Schemes and tariffs change, so confirm with the official office before you act.

• The Hans India: New home owners deprived of Gruha Jyothi Scheme
• Daijiworld: New homeowners get limited benefit under Gruha Jyothi (Mar 2025)
• The South First: Cabinet tweaks Gruha Jyothi, 10 additional units instead of 10% (Jan 2024)
• Deccan Herald: Gruha Jyothi, it's now 10 extra units, not 10% extra
• Deccan Herald: Residents in rented homes say they are excluded
• The Hans India: Griha Jyoti poses problems for shifting tenants
• Karnataka.com: Gruha Jyothi status check and delink
• Seva Sindhu: Gruha Jyothi delink service
• Seva Sindhu: Track status
• The News Minute: Gruha Jyothi door-to-door verification starts (Jul 2026)
• The News Minute: Verification deadline extended to Sept 30 (2026)
• Deccan Herald: 82k households refuse verification, may lose benefit

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