LUCKNOW: Acting on the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has suspended work on replacing smart meters under the RDSS scheme and constituted a four-member technical committee to examine the rising complaints related to meter quality and connectivity across the state.Additional chief secretary (power) Ashish Kumar Goel said that further decisions will be taken after the committee submits its report.The committee was announced following a review meeting held on April 9 with state energy minister Arvind Kumar Sharma and senior officials, during which the chief minister called for a thorough investigation into issues linked to the smart meter rollout.Formed on April 12, the panel includes professor Ankush Sharma from IIT Kanpur’s Electrical Engineering department, professor Prabodh Bajpayee from the institute’s Sustainable Energy Engineering department, Tejas Mistry from the Electrical Research and Development Association (ERDA), Vadodara, and UPPCL director (distribution) G D Dwivedi. A committee member confirmed that the probe has not begun yet and that members were formally notified on April 13.According to an official memorandum issued by the UPPCL chairman, the committee has been assigned to review technical issues and submit its findings within 10 days. The memorandum also acknowledged that UPPCL has been receiving complaints about meter quality and connectivity, even though the corporation maintains that most of the 85 lakh smart meters installed in the state are functioning without major problems. It noted that check meters have been installed for about five percent of connections to aid monitoring.UPPCL data shows that over 75 lakh consumers have already shifted to prepaid mode under the smart metering programme.The memorandum further states that installations are being carried out in line with Central Electricity Authority (CEA) guidelines, which recently clarified that prepaid mode is optional. However, consumer representatives continue to raise concerns.Avadhesh Kumar Verma, a member of the UPERC Supply Code Review Panel’s sub-committee and chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, alleged that UPPCL has made prepaid meters mandatory for new connections and converting existing post-paid users without their consent under the RDSS scheme.
