RTI If Your Solar Subsidy Under PM Surya Ghar or MNRE Scheme Is Not Credited

You researched the scheme carefully. You registered on the national portal, selected a vendor from the empanelled list, got the DISCOM technical survey done, had the solar panels installed on your rooftop, and waited for the net meter to be connected. Weeks turned to months. The net meter eventually arrived. Then you waited for the DISCOM inspection and the commissioning certificate. That finally came too — but the subsidy that was supposed to arrive in your bank account within a few days of the commissioning certificate has not appeared. The vendor says the application was submitted. The DISCOM office says it is "under process." The national portal shows your status somewhere in the middle of a pipeline, with no clear explanation of what is blocked.

This is the most common complaint under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana — a scheme launched in 2024 with a target of one crore rooftop solar installations, backed by a central subsidy of up to ₹78,000 for a 3 kW system. The scheme's pipeline — national portal to DISCOM to State Nodal Agency to MNRE to your bank account — has multiple points where applications quietly stall. RTI is the tool that forces each point in the pipeline to explain its status.

Understanding the PM Surya Ghar Process

Before filing RTI, it helps to understand what the subsidy pipeline looks like, so you know which step is stuck and who to ask.

Step 1 — Registration on National Portal: The applicant registers on the PM Surya Ghar national portal (verify the current official URL before filing), provides consumer number, state, and DISCOM details, and selects an empanelled vendor.

Step 2 — DISCOM Technical Survey: The DISCOM sends a technical officer to survey the rooftop and confirm that the site is suitable for the applied capacity (1, 2, or 3 kW or higher). The survey approval is issued by the DISCOM.

Step 3 — Installation by Empanelled Vendor: The empanelled vendor installs the solar panels, inverter, and associated equipment. The vendor is required to be on the MNRE/state empanelment list.

Step 4 — Net Meter Application and Installation: The consumer applies for a net meter — a bidirectional meter that tracks both consumption from the grid and export to the grid. The DISCOM is responsible for installing the net meter. This is the most common bottleneck: net meter queues at DISCOMs are long, and delays of four to twelve months are frequently reported.

Step 5 — DISCOM Inspection and Commissioning Certificate: After the net meter is installed and the system is tested, the DISCOM issues a commissioning certificate confirming that the solar installation is grid-connected and operational.

Step 6 — Subsidy Application Submitted to MNRE/SNA: The DISCOM is responsible for submitting the subsidy application — with the commissioning certificate, technical data, and bank account details of the consumer — to the State Nodal Agency (SNA) and through it to MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy). In some states, the DISCOM submits directly to MNRE's portal.

Step 7 — Subsidy Disbursement via DBT: The subsidy amount (central subsidy, and in some states, an additional state subsidy) is disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the consumer's bank account linked to the national portal. The typical timeline from commissioning certificate to subsidy credit is meant to be a few weeks.

At any of Steps 4 through 7, delays can occur — and RTI is your tool to find out which step is blocked, why, and who is responsible.

Who Is the Public Authority: Getting Jurisdiction Right

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE): MNRE is the Central Government ministry administering PM Surya Ghar at the national level. It is a Central Government body under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. RTI to MNRE can be filed online. Second Appeal for MNRE RTI goes to the Central Information Commission (CIC).

State Nodal Agencies (SNAs): Each state has a designated State Nodal Agency for implementing renewable energy schemes — for example, MNRE's state channel partner, which may be the state energy development agency (TNEDA in Tamil Nadu, ANERT in Kerala, HAREDA in Haryana, GUVNL in Gujarat, etc.). SNAs are state government bodies. Second Appeal for SNA RTI goes to the State Information Commission (SIC) of the relevant state.

DISCOMs: The electricity distribution company for your area — whether a state DISCOM (MSEDCL in Maharashtra, TANGEDCO in Tamil Nadu, DHBVN/UHBVN in Haryana, etc.) — is a state body. Second Appeal for DISCOM RTI goes to the State Information Commission (SIC). Note: Private DISCOMs (BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna, TPDDL in Delhi, CESC in Kolkata) are private companies and are generally not public authorities under Section 2(h). For these, you would need to approach the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) — a public authority — for regulatory information; direct RTI to a private DISCOM is unlikely to be effective.

The most effective RTI target for most PM Surya Ghar subsidy delays is the DISCOM — because the DISCOM controls the net meter installation timeline (Step 4), the commissioning certificate (Step 5), and the submission to MNRE/SNA (Step 6). This is where most delays originate or are best diagnosed.

Sample RTI Questions: Filed With the DISCOM CPIO

Replace the bracketed placeholders with your specific details.

On net meter status and commissioning:

1. Whether a net meter application was received for consumer number X at address Y under PM Surya Ghar registration number Z. The date on which the net meter application was received. The current status of net meter installation — whether the meter has been installed, and if not, the reason for delay and the expected date of installation.

2. Whether a net meter has been installed for consumer number X at address. The date of installation. The meter serial number assigned. Whether the solar installation has been inspected by the DISCOM's technical officer. The date of inspection.

3. Whether a commissioning certificate has been issued for the solar installation at consumer number X / PM Surya Ghar registration number Z. If issued, the date of issue, the certificate number, and the capacity commissioned. If not issued, the reason for non-issuance.

On subsidy application submission:

4. Whether the subsidy application for PM Surya Ghar registration number Z / consumer number X has been submitted by the DISCOM to the State Nodal Agency (SNA) / MNRE portal for disbursement of central subsidy. If submitted, the date of submission and the reference number on the MNRE/SNA portal. If not submitted, the reason for non-submission.

5. The stage at which the subsidy application for consumer number X currently stands in the DISCOM's internal processing system. Whether any deficiency in the application has been noted — for example, a mismatch in bank account details, Aadhaar linking status, or incomplete technical data — and if so, what the specific deficiency is.

On the amount and bank account:

6. The central subsidy amount determined and submitted for consumer number X / registration number Z, based on the installed capacity in kW. Whether the bank account number submitted for DBT credit matches the account on record in the DISCOM's system for that consumer.

On the officer responsible:

7. The name and designation of the DISCOM officer responsible for processing PM Surya Ghar subsidy applications in sub-division / circle name. The current number of subsidy applications pending submission to MNRE/SNA from that sub-division as of the date of this RTI response.

Sample RTI Questions: Filed With the MNRE CPIO

File these if the DISCOM confirms the application was submitted to MNRE/SNA and you need to trace the status at the national level.

1. Whether the PM Surya Ghar subsidy application for registration number Z / consumer number X in state name, DISCOM name has been received and processed by MNRE / the SNA. The date of receipt by MNRE/SNA. The current status of disbursement.

2. The amount of central subsidy disbursed by MNRE/SNA for registration number Z. The date of disbursement and the bank account number to which it was credited via DBT. If not disbursed, the reason.

3. The total number of PM Surya Ghar subsidy applications received from state name for the financial year X. The number of applications for which subsidies have been disbursed, the number pending, and the average time taken from commissioning certificate to subsidy disbursement in state name.

The Net Meter Bottleneck: Why RTI Matters Here Most

The single most common complaint under PM Surya Ghar is not subsidy non-payment after commissioning — it is the net meter itself never being installed, preventing commissioning from occurring. DISCOMs have significant backlogs for net meter applications, and some consumers wait six months or more after installation of the solar panels before a net meter is connected.

RTI questions 1 and 2 above directly address this. When the DISCOM is required to respond in writing to the date of application receipt, the current queue position, and the reason for delay, two things happen: first, you get documented evidence of the delay that you can use in a complaint to the DISCOM Commissioner or the State Electricity Regulatory Commission; second, the act of receiving an RTI application often moves pending cases in a department's queue, particularly at the junior engineer level where net meter scheduling is typically managed.

If the net meter has been installed but the commissioning certificate is delayed, question 3 above forces a written explanation — which again, when followed by a complaint to the Chief Engineer (Renewables) of the DISCOM with the RTI response attached, typically produces faster action than a general grievance on the consumer portal.

What to Do With the RTI Response

If the response confirms commissioning but subsidy not submitted to MNRE/SNA: You have evidence that the delay is entirely within the DISCOM's post-commissioning processing. File a written complaint to the DISCOM's Chief Engineer (Renewables) or the Managing Director, attaching the RTI response, and separately file a grievance on the state electricity regulatory commission's consumer complaint portal (every state SERC has one). The state SERC regulates the DISCOM's obligations — including timelines for net meter installation and commissioning — and consumer complaints to the SERC are more effective than general grievances for systemic delays.

If the response shows a bank account mismatch: This is a common technical issue. The national portal may have captured a different account number from what the DISCOM has on record. Contact the DISCOM's consumer service centre with the RTI response showing the mismatch, request a bank account correction on the portal, and confirm the correction in writing.

If the response shows the SNA rejected the application: Ask the DISCOM (or file a separate RTI to the SNA) for the reason for rejection and the opportunity to resubmit with corrected documentation. Rejections for technical reasons are usually curable.

If the CPIO does not respond within 30 days: File a First Appeal under Section 19(1) within 30 days of the deadline or the date of the unsatisfactory response, whichever is applicable. Address it to the First Appellate Authority within the DISCOM or MNRE.

Second Appeal under Section 19(3): Within 90 days of the FAA's decision:

• DISCOM RTI (state body): Second Appeal to the State Information Commission.
• MNRE RTI (central body): Second Appeal to the Central Information Commission (CIC).

A Note on Older Solar Rooftop Schemes

If your installation predates PM Surya Ghar — specifically, if it was installed under the Solar Rooftop Phase II (SRTPV Phase II) scheme that was the predecessor programme — the implementing agency and portal may differ. The RTI approach is substantially the same: the DISCOM for net meter and commissioning records, the SNA or MNRE for subsidy disbursement. Use the registration number from whatever portal your original application was filed on.

How RTISathi Can Help

Solar subsidy RTI applications require knowing which step in the pipeline is blocked — and that requires filing with the DISCOM first, then MNRE if the DISCOM confirms submission. A single RTI that asks everything in one place (typically the DISCOM) is the most efficient starting point, because the DISCOM both controls the on-ground bottleneck and has the reference numbers that connect to the MNRE system.

If your PM Surya Ghar subsidy has not been credited, your net meter is stuck in a queue, or your commissioning certificate has not been issued despite the solar installation being complete, RTISathi.com can help you draft a precisely targeted RTI application to the correct DISCOM or MNRE authority, guide you through the First and Second Appeal process, and help you understand how to use the response to unlock the subsidy you are entitled to.