Did Delhi Minister Announce Discontinuation Of Power Subsidy Scheme? A Fact Check

A video of Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi is going viral on social media platforms with a claim that she allegedly talked about the AAP government's decision to cancel the power subsidy scheme in the national capital.

In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that an edited version of an old video dating back to April 2023 was shared on social media with the false claim.

Claim

A Facebook user shared on May 26 a video of Delhi Minister Atishi, in which she was heard saying that the AAP government had decided to cancel the power subsidy scheme in the national capital. Meanwhile, the text running on the video read that ‘free electricity ends in Delhi'.

The caption of the video read, “लो भाई उतर गया बुखार people who voted for freebies deserved this. Freebies are a sure recipe for economic disaster”

An English translation of the caption read, “The fever is gone. People who voted for freebies deserved this. Freebies are a sure recipe for economic disaster.”

Here is the link and archive link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same:

“The power subsidy for 46 lakh families in the national capital ends today, which means from tomorrow subsidized electricity bills will not be provided. Those previously receiving zero bills will see an increase, and those with 50 per cent subsidy will face higher bills,” Atishi says in the video.

Investigation

Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the video through InVid Tool Search and found several keyframes. On running one of the keyframes through Google Lens, the Desk found several posts carrying the same video with similar claims. 

Three such posts can be viewed here, here, and here and their archived versions can be found here, here, and here respectively.

The video was widely shared on X as well. Three such videos can be found here, here, and here and their archive versions can be seen here, here, and here respectively.

The Desk noticed one of the comments on the posts which mentioned that the video was old.

Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and came across an X post by the official handle of Aam Aadmi Party on April 14, 2023.

The caption of the post read, “LG ने दिल्ली की मुफ़्त बिजली रोकी‼️
46 लाख परिवारों, किसानों, वकीलों और 1984 दंगा पीड़ितों को FREE Bijli मिलनी बंद हो जाएगी
Delhi Govt की बिजली Subsidy की File LG लेकर बैठ गए हैं, Tata, BSES ने चिट्ठी लिखी—उनके पास सब्सिडी की सूचना नहीं आई तो वो Billing शुरू करेंगे”

An English translation of the caption read, “LG stopped free electricity in Delhi‼️
46 lakh families, farmers, lawyers and 1984 riot victims will stop getting free electricity.
LG has taken the file of Delhi Govt's electricity subsidy, Tata, BSES wrote a letter - If they do not get information about subsidy, they will start billing.”

Here is the link and archive link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same:

The Desk found that this was the complete version of Atishi's speech. Below is a combination image, comparing visuals of the two videos:

While watching the extended video, the Desk found that the viral video was clipped from the timestamp from 0:14 minutes and 0:51 minutes. Atishi can be heard saying that the government needs to cancel the subsidy due to LG's pending decision.

In the extended video, Atishi says, “Today I am going to hold a press conference on a very serious issue. An issue which is a topic of concern for 46 lakh families in Delhi. From today, the electricity subsidy for 46 lakh families will be stopped which the government of Arvind Kejriwal gives to the people of Delhi.”

Further in the video, she says, “This means that from tomorrow, the consumers will not get a subsidy on the electricity bills. So, the people who used to get zero bills, from tomorrow they will get electricity at increased prices, people who used to get 50 per cent subsidy will also get electricity at increased prices.” Atishi then elaborates on the reasons behind the subsidy withdrawal.

The Desk then conducted a customised keyword search and came across a video report published by the Times of India on April 14, 2023.

The title of the report read: “Delhiites not to get subsidised electricity bills from tomorrow; 46 lakh families to be impacted”.

Here is the link to the report.

Subsequently, the Desk found that a year-old video of Atishi was clipped and shared on social media as recent with false claims.  

CLAIM

Delhi Minister Atishi announced the withdrawal of the power subsidy scheme in the national capital.

FACT

An old and clipped video of Atishi was shared as recent on social media.

CONCLUSION

Several social media users shared a video of Delhi minister Atishi's announcement discontinuation of power subsidy by the AAP government in the national capital. In its investigation, the Desk found that an old video of Atishi was clipped and shared as recent on social media with false claims.

(This story was originally published by PTI, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective.)