Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has yet again denied the allegation of inflated power bills in smart meters.
In his interaction with the media on Sunday when he was hopping from one Durga Puja pandal to another pandal in Guwahati, the Chief Minister said, “Had smart meters generated inflated electricity bills in the state, the revenue of APDCL would have gone up. However, there is no increase in the revenue collection of the APDCL. Rather, smart meters will help control power bills as consumers become conscious of excess power consumption, as it is shown clearly unlike manual meters. The consumption of electricity has come down in the state after the installation of smart meters. Power bills go up from June to September and fall down from October.”
On complaints that keep coming from consumers, the Chief Minister said, “Complainants compare their power bills with those of the previous months of this year, not with the bills of the corresponding months in the last year. APDCL has already shown some of the complainants that their power bills in the corresponding months in the previous years were the same as those of this year. The complainants have also agreed to the facts,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister said, “I can assure the journalists present here that if any of you have smart meters installed in your houses, you can openly tell me. I’ll make all arrangements for the installation of manual meters in your households along with smart meters. After a month, if the reading of smart meters is more than that of manual meters, I will withdraw all the smart meters installed in the state.”
The Chief Minister said that his government would reduce the power tariff by Re 1 per unit from April 1, 2025, which most other states in the country cannot afford to.
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