The PM Surya Ghar subsidy is not difficult to obtain, but a significant share of applications are delayed or refused. Almost every reason is avoidable and almost every one is checkable before you spend money. Here they are, roughly in order of how often they bite.
Using an installer who is not registered on the national portal. This is the big one. The scheme pays subsidy only for systems installed by vendors registered at pmsuryaghar.gov.in. Buying panels yourself, or hiring a competent local electrician who is not on the portal, means you get nothing at all. The installation may be perfect. It does not matter. Ask for the registration and verify it yourself before signing.
Panels that are not DCR-compliant. Domestic content requirements are mandatory under the scheme. Imported modules are often cheaper and some installers quote them without flagging the consequence. You lose the entire subsidy, which dwarfs whatever you saved on the panels. Insist the exact make, model and DCR status appear in writing on your quotation.
Installing before feasibility approval. Your DISCOM must approve feasibility before installation, not after. People who install first and apply later frequently find themselves outside the scheme entirely. Feasibility typically takes one week to a month, so build that into your timeline rather than trying to shortcut it.
Applying on a commercial connection. The scheme is residential only. If your connection is registered as commercial, even for a property you live in, it does not qualify. Check the category on your bill before applying.
A previous claim on the same address. It is one subsidy per connection. If a former owner claimed it, you generally cannot claim again. Adding capacity later at the same address usually will not attract a second payment either.
Off-grid or battery-only systems. These are explicitly excluded. The system must be grid-connected with net metering to qualify. Anyone selling you an off-grid setup while promising the subsidy is either mistaken or misleading you.
Bank account mismatches. The subsidy arrives by direct benefit transfer to an Aadhaar-linked account. If the account is not in the applicant's name, or the Aadhaar link is incomplete, payment stalls even when everything else is approved. Fix this before applying rather than chasing it afterwards.
Sanctioned load problems. Net metering is generally allowed up to your sanctioned load. A system substantially larger than your connection can run into approval difficulty. Your sanctioned load is on your bill. If you are planning something large relative to it, raise this with your DISCOM early.
Incomplete or mismatched documents. Names that differ between your electricity bill, Aadhaar and bank account cause delays that are tedious to unwind. Check all three match before you start.
If your application has been rejected. The portal has application tracking, and the helpline on 15555 can usually tell you what the specific obstacle is. Many rejections are fixable, particularly document mismatches. Rejections for an unregistered installer or non-DCR panels generally are not, which is exactly why those two are worth verifying before any money changes hands.
The pattern in all of this is simple. Almost nothing here goes wrong at the end. It goes wrong at the beginning, in the choice of installer and the choice of panels, and only becomes visible months later when the money does not arrive.
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Last updated 27 July 2026 · Reviewed by the RenSetu team