Politics

In UP, half the population took to the streets against prepaid smart meters, meters were uprooted, officers and employees absconded from power sub-stations.

By Sandy Verma

Lucknow: After the installation of prepaid smart meters in UP, people’s anger against the indiscriminate electricity bills has been increasing. Every day, people are seen uprooting smart meters from their homes and throwing them at the electricity office. At some places women are taking out processions by placing smart meters on their heads and at some places people are showing their anger by throwing them on the ground. Such videos are continuously going viral on social media from different districts. There were strong demonstrations regarding smart meters in Agra, Firozabad, Moradabad, Meerut, Hamirpur, Hapur and Lucknow.

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Despite all the claims of Energy Minister AK Sharma and Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Chairman Ashish Kumar Goyal (Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation) regarding smart pre-paid electricity meters, the system is not on track. The anger of consumers is at its peak regarding meters installed in their homes without permission.

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​Congress party shared the video on X Post and wrote that a front has been opened against smart meters in UP. People told that the electricity bills which used to be Rs 500-600 earlier, have started coming to Rs 25-30 thousand after the installation of smart meters. Angered by this rigging, people have started uprooting smart meters from their homes. The Congress party wrote that it is true that the BJP government comes up with new ways to loot the public, it does not leave a single opportunity for recovery.

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The expert committee was to submit the report to the Yogi government in 10 days, the deadline was completed on April 30 and now people are waiting for the solution.

Prepaid Smart Meters installed in UP: The main opposition parties of the state, Samajwadi Party, Congress Party and Aam Aadmi Party are strongly opposing the decision of Yogi Government. Let us tell you that the Yogi government had announced Relief 1.0 on April 20 and constituted an expert committee, which was to submit the report in 10 days. That period also ended on 30th April and now people are waiting for the solution. In the first relief announcement, a grace period of three days was given to consumers with usage up to 2kW. Relief was given up to Rs 200 for negative balance and not disconnecting the connection on holidays, but before this, seeing the anger not stopping, the government had also announced Relief 2.0.

Three days grace period given to consumers using up to 2kW is redundant

Let us tell you that the Yogi government had given a grace period of three days to the consumers who use up to 2kw, but if you have a 2kw connection, then as soon as the prepaid smart meter is installed, it automatically gets converted into a 3kw connection without asking the consumer. In such a situation, giving a grace period of three days to consumers with usage up to 2kW is meaningless.

Under this, giving relief to domestic consumers up to 1 kilowatt, it was said that electricity connections will not be disconnected for 30 days. That is, recharge in postpaid mode only within thirty days, but despite the second announcement of relief on April 24, people remained angry and the protest is still going on.

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Allegation of forcibly installing smart meter

On behalf of the consumers, the opposition and the State Consumer Council have maintained the front. The State Consumer Council has approached the Electricity Regulatory Commission alleging forced installation of meters and has even sought intervention from the Chief Minister. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has today made a scathing attack on the government on the issue of smart meters.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, in response to a question on smart meters, said that people are breaking and throwing away smart meters. Can’t trust BJP’s technology. This government has not created electricity and is installing smart meters. Today women have come out and thrown away the smart meter.

Till date around 75 lakh smart meters have been installed in Uttar Pradesh.

Let us tell you that till date around 75 lakh smart meters have been installed in Uttar Pradesh. People allege that these meters run fast and the bill is high. Balance in prepaid meter gets deducted quickly. Electricity bill keeps increasing even without usage. A man’s video is going viral on social media. This person says that the house is closed and the MCB has also been disconnected, but despite this, the balance is being deducted daily. He himself made this video and posted it on social media, which went viral.

On April 24, when the government fixed a grace period of 30 days for domestic consumers up to 1kW, it was expected that people’s anger would cool down, but it did not happen. There are 42 lakh consumers in the 1kw load category, but now the direct demand of the consumers is to remove the smart meters and bring back the old meters. Let us tell you that the deadline for installing smart meters under RDSS (Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme) has been extended to March 2028. In such a situation, the question is that amidst this chaos, what is the government doing in such a hurry?

Women locked the gate at the power station of Sector-25 of Indira Nagar, capital Lucknow.

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Recently, in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, women reached the power station in Sector-25 of Indira Nagar of the capital with smart pre-paid electricity meter anti-play cards in their hands and asked the officials the reason for the disappearance of electricity from the houses.

When they did not get any response, the women protested fiercely against the smart electricity meter and locked the gate. During this, the women raised loud slogans that the smart meter is a fraud. Seeing the anger of the women, the officers and employees fled from there. The opposition of consumers troubled by smart meters is continuously increasing in the city. Consumers troubled by high bills are crowding the sub-centres, but there is no one to listen. In Indira Nagar, Lucknow, women associated with AIDWA demonstrated fiercely against smart electricity meters and surrounded the entire office.

The officers and employees of the department have gone missing. The protesting women surrounded the entire office and created a ruckus and protest against the smart meter. Even before this, consumers in Indiranagar had created a ruckus by gheraoing the power house of Sector-14.

Women took to the streets in Modinagar, Ghaziabad to protest against smart meters, demonstrated fiercely, Delhi-Meerut road jammed

The controversy over smart meters in Modinagar, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh is now turning into open protest. Women, angry over increased electricity bills, installation of meters without consent and negligence by officials, staged a big demonstration on Saturday. First a protest was held in the Tehsil premises and when the hearing was not held, hundreds of women came down on the Delhi-Meerut road and blocked the road. During this, slogans were raised against the Energy Corporation and administrative officials had to reach the spot and control the situation.

Protest reached from tehsil to the road

Women from many colonies including Begumabad, Lankapuri first reached Modinagar tehsil, where they started protesting in the auditorium. The women alleged that smart meters were installed in their homes without their knowledge and consent. She demanded the SDM and Energy Corporation officials to remove the meter and warned that if she was not listened to, she herself would uproot and throw away the meter.

Jam on Delhi-Meerut road

As no concrete action was taken in the tehsil, the women directly reached the Delhi-Meerut road and blocked the road by sitting on it. Due to this demonstration which lasted for about 20 minutes, long queues of vehicles formed on both sides of the road and the traffic was completely disrupted. Seeing the situation, administrative officials reached the spot and tried to convince the women, after which the traffic jam was cleared.

Anger increased due to high electricity bill

The protesting women said that after the installation of smart meters, the electricity bill was much higher than before. They allege that this system of Energy Corporation is not in the interest of the consumers and it is increasing the financial burden on the common people. The women clearly said that their protest will continue until this problem is not resolved.

Uproar at SDO office too, officers not found

After the road jam, the women reached Govindpuri power house, where they tried to meet the SDO. But before they could reach, the SDO left the office. The women’s anger increased further when they found the office empty. They staged a protest there and raised slogans against the officials. No officer arrived for a long time, after which the women returned.

warning of indefinite movement

Women have warned that if smart meters are not removed and the problem of electricity bill is not resolved, they will launch a major agitation. He has also warned of indefinite strike. At the same time, SDM Ajit Singh said that efforts will be made to find a solution by talking to Energy Corporation officials.

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