PM Surya Ghar: What Gets an Application Rejected

The checks, in the order they bite

The precise wording differs by state and is set by your DISCOM, not by us. Treat this as the shape of the gate — the authoritative checklist is the one your DISCOM shows during the application.

Sanctioned load against plant size — and what fixing it costs

This is the check people are most surprised by, because nothing about buying panels suggests your electricity contract is involved. The reasoning is straightforward: a rooftop plant can push its full rated output back through your connection, so the connection has to be contracted for at least that much.

If your load is short, the fix is a load enhancement request at your DISCOM. It is routine. What it is not is free — and this is the part worth seeing before you commit, because the higher fixed charge is billed every month, permanently:

Fixed charges computed live from the UPPCL LMV-1 urban domestic schedule, against a 2 kW starting point. A load enhancement is permanent: the higher fixed charge is billed every month afterwards, in months you generate plenty and months you do not. Your own DISCOM's fixed charge will differ — put your numbers into the bill calculator before you apply, and check the load you actually need with the sanctioned load optimizer.

There is a second cost that arrives later and separately: a higher sanctioned load raises your security deposit, and the difference is demanded as a lump on a subsequent bill. Only the difference is payable, not the whole amount again — see how the security deposit works before you pay a demand you have not checked.

The name has to match — exactly

Subsidy is disbursed to a bank account, against an application, against an electricity connection. Those three names are compared, and a mismatch is one of the more common reasons a file sits unresolved: an initial where the bank has a full name, a maiden name, a transliteration that differs by one letter, or a connection still in a parent's name.

Two different problems hide here, and they need different requests:

• Same person, wrong spelling — a name correction on the connection. Usually the lighter process.
• Different person — a transfer of connection into your name. This is the heavier one, and it also re-settles the security deposit, so start it early.

Check the spelling on your latest bill against your bank passbook before you do anything else. It costs nothing and it is the single most common avoidable rejection.

What you will be asked for

Document lists are set by each DISCOM and change; your DISCOM's own portal is the only authoritative list. What is asked for almost everywhere falls into four groups:

• Identity — the applicant's government identity document.
• The connection — a recent electricity bill, which carries the consumer number, the sanctioned load and the name that has to match.
• The premises — ownership proof, or permission for the roof where the applicant is not the owner.
• The bank account — for the subsidy transfer, in the same name.

Do not send documents to anyone who contacts you offering to "get the subsidy approved". The subsidy is disbursed to your own account through the official process, and the vendor list is published on the national portal.

Fix it at your DISCOM, then apply

All three of the fixes above — load enhancement, name correction, transfer of connection — are DISCOM requests, not solar-portal ones. Pick your state and DISCOM and go straight to its official portal:

Open my DISCOM's services

The order that saves the most time: check the name on your bill, check the sanctioned load against the plant you want, raise whichever request you need, and only then start the solar application. Doing it the other way round means an application waiting on a DISCOM process that had not been started.

Then work out whether it is worth it

Eligibility is a gate, not a reason. Once you know you can apply, the questions that actually decide it are how big a plant your roof and your consumption justify, and what the subsidy leaves you paying:

Frequently asked questions

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