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Protected Consumer Checker
“Am I protected?” is decided by your last six bills, not by this month. Enter them and get the verdict the notification itself gives — and what the status is worth in rupees.
The definition (S.R.O. 1165(I)/2022, Part-II A-1): a protected consumer is a non-ToU residential consumer using 200 units or less in every one of the past 6 months. One month above 200 — even 201 — breaks it, and status returns only when the trailing six months are all clean again.
Check your protected status
Protected status is decided by your last 6 months, not by this month alone. Your units for each month are printed on every bill (and in your company's app).
Only needed for the lifeline test.
Why this checker exists
Most pages describe protected status as “using up to 200 units a month”. That shorthand is wrong in the two ways that cost households money: it ignores the six-month look-back, and it ignores that a heavy month is billed as unprotected and restarts the count. A family that runs an extra AC for one summer month can spend the following five months paying unprotected rates on winter usage of 120 units — wondering why the bill stays high. The protected vs unprotected guide walks through the definitions, the pro-rating rule for long reading periods, and how to protect the status once you have it.
Questions
Am I a protected consumer?
Only if every one of your last 6 months was at 200 units or less AND your connection is not Time-of-Use. It is a look-back test on every month — not this month’s reading, and not an average. One month at 201 units breaks it.
I crossed 200 units once. When do I become protected again?
When the trailing 6 months are all at 200 or below again. If the heavy month was 3 months ago, you need 3 more clean months; if it was last month, you need 6. The checker counts it for you.
Can a 5 kW connection be protected?
No. Connections with a sanctioned load of 5 kW or more are on Time-of-Use metering, and the protected definition is non-ToU only — however little electricity the home uses.
What is a lifeline consumer?
A single-phase connection up to 1 kW whose highest month in the last 12 — this month included — is 100 units or less. Lifeline homes pay Rs 3.95 up to 50 units and Rs 7.74 from 51 to 100, with a minimum charge instead of a fixed charge, and no FCA or QTA.
How much is protected status worth?
At 200 units, protected energy is Rs 2,355 against Rs 5,782 unprotected — before the fixed-charge difference and GST widen the gap further. The checker prices your own month both ways.