Lko consumers left struggling with smart meter billing issues
Lucknow consumers allege UPPCL closes smart meter complaints without resolution, forcing them to manually obtain bills; officials face internal action.
Consumers in Lucknow are voicing serious complaints against the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), alleging that officials are closing online complaints about smart meter billing issues without actually resolving them.
Several users claim that despite filing complaints on the UP Energy website, no official visits or follow-ups are being made, yet their grievances are marked as “resolved” online.
Residents say the problem is particularly severe in the LESA areas, where online bills are not being generated for months for consumers with smart meters—forcing them to visit engineers personally every month to get their bills prepared manually.
Guddu, a resident of the Nadarganj division (Consumer No. 2675393000), said his electricity bill fails to generate online. “I filed a complaint on October 13. No one from the department called or came to check the meter, but the complaint was marked resolved on the website,” he said. Similar experiences have been reported by many other consumers in the area.
Another consumer, Ram Jiyavan from Utraithia (Consumer No 8615681000), shared a nearly identical experience. He lodged a complaint about his smart meter on the same date but claims that it was “closed” without any on-ground inspection. “No engineer called or visited my house. They are just completing paperwork to make the complaint portal statistics look better,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, officials have taken internal action regarding meter reading negligence. Ravi Agrawal, chief engineer, LESA, Central Zone, confirmed that three meter readers — Rajneesh Verma, Abhishek Yadav, and Pintu — were removed for irregularities, while others received warnings.
Responding to the growing backlash, Bhavishya Kumar Saxena, superintending engineer of Amausi, said, “If any consumer has lodged a complaint regarding meter reading or online billing, it will be properly resolved. Any engineer found marking complaints as resolved without due process will face inquiry and action.”
Meanwhile, insiders of the department say that a number of complaints regarding prepaid meters, smart meters and bill corrections are pending with the department.
