Prepaid Meter System Abolished in UP; Electricity Bills to Now Arrive via the Old Method

Prepaid Meters End in UP: Prepaid electricity meters are now being discontinued in Uttar Pradesh; henceforth, bills will once again be issued on a postpaid basis, just as they were previously. The government recently made this decision.

Prepaid Meters End in UP: News bringing significant relief to electricity consumers in Uttar Pradesh has emerged. Amidst ongoing dissatisfaction regarding prepaid smart meters, the government has taken a crucial decision and initiated steps to abolish the system. Consequently, consumers will once again receive their electricity bills under the traditional postpaid system.

Energy Minister Provides Details

Uttar Pradesh's Energy Minister, A.K. Sharma, himself shared this information via social media. He posted an update on his official X (formerly Twitter) account. Accompanying several photographs, his caption read: "I have stated before—'Upbhokta Devo Bhava' (The Consumer is Supreme). A decision has been taken that all smart meters will now function exactly like standard postpaid meters. Today, a significant decision was made to provide major relief to electricity consumers in light of the technical glitches they have been experiencing with smart/prepaid meters."

Along with this post, he provided a detailed explanation of the new arrangement through a list of 10 key points, stating the following:

All consumers' smart meters will function exactly like standard/postpaid meters.
In other words, the "prepaid" system is being abolished.
Just as you previously paid monthly bills, the bill for the period spanning the 1st to the 30th of the month will now be sent to you via SMS or WhatsApp within the subsequent ten days.
Upon receiving the bill, please ensure you pay it within the stipulated timeframe.
You are also requested to update your registered phone number and pay close attention to messages received from the Electricity Department.
The Department has been strictly instructed once again that, under no circumstances, is a consumer's electricity supply to be disconnected within the billing month.

Furthermore, it has been directed that if a consumer has outstanding arrears, they must be provided with the facility to clear the dues in ten installments.

The ongoing process of replacing old electricity meters with smart/prepaid meters has been suspended. Nevertheless, resolving complaints related to the recently installed smart meters remains our top priority.

To ensure that the public faces no electricity-related hardships during the summer season, a meeting was held at Shakti Bhawan today, and fresh directives were issued to the department.

It is worth noting that for the past several days, the department has been receiving a steady stream of complaints regarding prepaid meters. Consumers reported that their electricity supply would be cut off the moment their recharge balance ran out, thereby disrupting their daily lives. Furthermore, issues concerning the transparency of meter readings and the rapid depletion of account balances also came to light. It is precisely in response to these issues that this decision has been taken.