New power connections in Uttar Pradesh with prepaid smart meters only
Uttar Pradesh mandates new electricity connections with prepaid smart meters, despite consumer opposition citing legal and financial concerns.
All new electricity connections in Uttar Pradesh will now be released only with prepaid smart meters. Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) chairman Ashish Goel on Monday issued instructions to the managing directors of all distribution companies in this regard.
According to the directive, in line with the guidelines of the Government of India, wherever smart meters are to be installed, they must be prepaid smart meters.
Goel said that in the identified areas where smart meter installation was already being taken up on priority, all new electricity connections (except for agricultural consumers) must be issued only with prepaid smart meters, as per the instructions given earlier.
He further directed that in these designated areas, new connections must be released within the stipulated time frame with prepaid smart meters. “Dedicated teams should be formed for the task, and the progress of timely issuance of new connections should be monitored daily by all chief engineers (distribution) and on a weekly basis by the director (commercial) of the DISCOMs,” he said in the order.
In Uttar Pradesh, there are 3.7 crore consumers at present. Among them also include around 13 lakh agricultural connections (private tubewells). According to UPPCL director (commercial) Prashan Verma, currently 40 lakh smart postpaid meters have been installed in the state.
“Now, all new connections, barring agricultural ones, will be issued with smart prepaid meters and the existing post-paid meters will be converted into prepaid. In the time to come, all meters will be smart prepaid meters and will be replaced in phases,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad has strongly opposed the power department’s move to make installation of smart prepaid meters mandatory.
Parishad chairman Awadhesh Kumar Verma said that Section 47(5) of the Electricity Act, 2003, clearly gives consumers the option to choose between postpaid and prepaid meters. “Forcing smart prepaid meters on consumers is entirely wrong and against the orders of the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC),” Verma alleged.
He pointed out that the UPERC has not yet fixed the tariff for smart prepaid meters, but the department is seeking to recover ₹6,000 per meter from consumers, which he described as “unjustified and unconstitutional.”
