The state government has extended the voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) for regularisation of excess load on tubewell connections till December 29.Further, the government has slashed service connection charges from Rs 6,572 to Rs 2,500 per BHP and security deposit from Rs 400 to Rs 200 per BHP, with no penalty or load surcharge on voluntarily declared or inspection-detected excess load.The move comes a day after the government waved penalties worth Rs 518 crore on 25 lakh electricity consumers. Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said the scheme gives farmers an opportunity to regularise the unauthorised excess load on their tubewells. He said the scheme was initially implemented for 45 days, October 1 to November 14. It has now been extended by another 45 days. Under the extended scheme, eligible consumers can get their unauthorised excess load regularised till December 29.The minister said their key objective was to provide financial relief to farmers. Earlier, farmers had to pay service connection charges of Rs 6,572 per BHP for regularising excess load. This amount has now been reduced to Rs 2,500 per BHP. Similarly, the security deposit has also been reduced from Rs 400 to Rs 200 per BHP.He said no penalty or surcharge would be imposed on unauthorised excess load.