Consumers complain of inflated power bills
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: In the wake of complaints by a section of consumers that installation of smart meters has resulted in inflated electricity bills, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday took cognizance of the matter and instructed the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) to take remedial action as and where required.
Sarma said that there is no increase in the power tariff, but instances of unreasonable bill amounts have come in from consumers, which is due to faulty readings in some of the newly-installed smart meters.
"Instructed APDCL officials to urgently fix the faulty smart meters and address public grievances," Sarma said in a tweet.
Numerous consumers have complained that the electricity bills of their households have gone up considerably after the change in meters.
Earlier, APDCL's Chief General Manager (PP&D), Pradip Goswami had asserted that installation of smart meters does not lead to increase in electricity bills.
He said that smart meters are electronic meters with two-way communication capability for remote reading of meters. There are no differences between old static electronic meters and new smart meters regarding measurement of electricity as both of them follow the same BIS standards for electrical metrology i.e., IS 13779. The increase in monthly electricity bills in the recent months can be attributed to significant increase in electricity consumption in the months of July and August due to heat and less rain compared to previous months, Goswami further said that electricity consumption by all domestic consumers generally increases in the month of July, August and September every year across the State due to the peak summer season.
The CGM maintained that APDCL's efforts have been appreciated by many consumers as these smart meters are beneficial to the consumers owing to the accurate measurement of electricity without any human intervention, which results in preparation of correct bills based on actual consumption of electricity. With smart meters, consumers can also track his/her electricity consumption through a mobile app (Smart Bijulee) and use electricity judiciously, Goswami said.
It is pertinent to mention that the Government has set a deadline of March, 2025 for installing smart meters in all consumer households in a phased manner and the APDCL has awarded a Rs 566.33-crore contract to a private company for supplying 6.2 lakh smart meters for installation in 19 electrical circles of the State in the first phase. The APDCL has installed over two lakh smart meters from November 2021 to May, 2022.
The 19 electrical circles where smart meters are being installed are Nagaon, Morigaon, KANCH, Cachar, Badarpur, Jorhat, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Rangiya, Mangaldai, Tezpur, North Lakhimpur, Guwahati Electrical Circle-I and Guwahati Electrical Circle-II.
APDCL aims to ensure smart meters for all in Guwahati by October next. APDCL also targets to install 20.43 lakh smart meters in rural areas and areas falling outside the 19 circle areas. According to APDCL sources, around 66 lakh power consumers in the state will get smart meters by 2025.
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