Indian electricity meters, 10 December 2012 file photo. Representative image. Balaji Kasirajan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
Domestic consumers need to distinguish an invitation to surrender support from a compulsory withdrawal. The billing procedure for households choosing to opt out still needs to be explained.
Bihar free power beneficiaries will be offered a voluntary way to give up their electricity subsidy through a campaign starting on 1 December 2026, Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced in Patna on 8 November. The announcement concerns households that choose to surrender the benefit of up to 125 free units a month.
Choudhary appealed to better-off families to give up the support if they wished, Dainik Jagran reported. Patna Press also reported the proposed opt-out campaign and said the Chief Minister had not set out the application or withdrawal procedure. The start date is therefore clear, while the practical steps for a household still need explanation.
What the Bihar free power announcement changes
The new element is a campaign to encourage voluntary surrender of the subsidy. It is a choice for beneficiaries, rather than an announcement that every household must stop receiving free electricity. Jagran’s account says consumers would have the opportunity to choose whether to give up the support.
Speaking to reporters on Diwali, Choudhary said 1.92 crore families were receiving 125 free units of electricity each month, according to The News Mill’s report with inputs from the Asian News International (ANI) news agency. He described the beneficiaries as including families from different economic backgrounds. That is the Chief Minister’s current account of the scheme’s reach.
Choudhary compared the appeal with the earlier request for people to voluntarily surrender their cooking-gas subsidy, the same report said. His announcement establishes the intended approach to the campaign. It does not, in the accounts reviewed, identify an income threshold that would automatically remove a household from the benefit.
How the 125-unit monthly benefit works
The scheme covers domestic electricity consumers. Under the existing arrangement described by Patna Press, households receive up to 125 units free each month and must pay for electricity consumed beyond that level. The number is a monthly allowance, so it should not be read as an unlimited free supply.
The table below separates total consumption from the part above the allowance. These are NewsPlainly’s illustrations using the reported 125-unit limit, rather than examples of actual household bills.
| Monthly use | Within 125 units | Units above allowance |
|---|---|---|
| 100 units | 100 units | 0 |
| 150 units | 125 units | 25 |
| 200 units | 125 units | 75 |
For example, 150 minus 125 leaves 25 units above the free allowance. At 200 units of use, the difference is 75 units. The table does not assign a rupee price to those units or make assumptions about other bill components, because the campaign announcement does not supply the information needed for that calculation.
From the 2025 scheme to the December campaign
Patna Press traced the benefit to the Mukhyamantri Vidyut Upbhokta Sahayata Yojana, or Chief Minister’s Electricity Consumer Assistance Scheme. Its account dates the announcement by then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to 17 July 2025, Cabinet approval to 18 July and the scheme’s start to 1 August 2025.
At launch, the government estimated that about 1.67 crore domestic consumers would benefit, the report said. That earlier estimate and Choudhary’s current figure of 1.92 crore come from different points in the scheme’s history. They should not be treated as an independently checked count of newly added connections.
The next dated step is 1 December 2026, when the voluntary campaign is due to begin. The announcement was made during Choudhary’s Diwali visit to a settlement near Digha-Ashiana Road in Patna, Jagran reported. He also asked public representatives and officials to celebrate with marginalised communities in their areas.
What households still need to know before opting out
A beneficiary considering surrender will need the application method and the procedure for withdrawing the benefit. Patna Press specifically reported that Choudhary had not supplied those details. The reports reviewed do not establish when an individual household’s billing would change after making that choice.
The Chief Minister put annual government electricity support at roughly ₹10,000 per family, according to the ANI-based account. This is his estimate of subsidy support, not an announcement of a ₹10,000 cash payment to each household. The benefit discussed in the campaign remains linked to electricity consumption.
The distinction matters when reading the December date: it marks the planned start of the voluntary drive. It does not itself tell a household how to submit a request or establish that its benefit has been cancelled. NewsPlainly’s Bihar coverage follows state decisions and the details they provide for residents.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bihar ending 125 units of free electricity for everyone?
The announcement is for a voluntary surrender campaign. It does not announce compulsory withdrawal for every household.
When does the opt-out campaign start?
Samrat Choudhary said it would begin on 1 December 2026.
How can a household apply to surrender the subsidy?
Patna Press reported that the Chief Minister had not explained the application or withdrawal process.