LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) on Friday said it will refund excess smart meter charges to only 93,138 consumers, even though its own records allegedly showed that nearly 5.97 lakh consumers were overcharged for mandatory prepaid smart meters.The announcement came as UPPCL said it had begun implementing consumer relief measures following directions issued by the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC).According to a statement issued by UPPCL Director (Commercial) Prashant Kumar Verma, the utility has started refunding excess smart meter charges collected from consumers and initiated the process of restoring security deposits for consumers shifted back to the postpaid billing system.Verma said 93,138 consumers who obtained new electricity connections with prepaid smart meters were initially charged according to the rates applicable at the time. However, after UPERC fixed the official cost of smart meters, it was found that Rs 33.22 crore had been collected in excess from these consumers, which would now be refunded.According to the statement, UPPCL has already adjusted Rs 29.79 crore in the electricity accounts of 83,813 consumers across all discoms. The remaining eligible consumers will receive the balance amount in their electricity accounts, with the adjustment reflected in their upcoming bills.The refund exercise follows UPERC’s intervention after complaints that consumers were being charged higher amounts for mandatory prepaid smart meters. UPPCL had made prepaid smart meters compulsory for all new electricity connections from September 10, 2025. Later, on December 31, 2025, UPERC issued the Cost Data Book (CDB) 2025, fixing the approved cost of smart meters at Rs 2,800 for single-phase and Rs 4,100 for three-phase connections.Despite the revised rates, discoms allegedly continued collecting charges based on the older pricing structure until the second week of March 2026. On March 6, 2026, UPERC directed UPPCL to refund the excess amount collected from consumers.According to UPPCL’s own records submitted earlier, more than 5.97 lakh consumers who obtained new electricity connections between September 10, 2025, and March 6, 2026, were overcharged. Of these, over 2.25 lakh consumers received connections between December 31, 2025, and March 6, 2026, after the new CDB had already come into force, yet were still charged above the regulator-approved rates.The controversy arose because UPPCL continued charging consumers under the CDB 2019 even after introducing IS 16444 standard smart prepaid meters. Consumers taking mandatory prepaid connections were charged Rs 6,016 for single-phase meters and Rs 11,341 for three-phase meters.Questioning UPPCL’s latest decision, Avdhesh Kumar Verma, chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad (UPRVUP) and a member of the state advisory committee, said the power utility was required to refund the excess amount to all 5.97 lakh consumers who were overcharged. He said the consumer body would move UPERC against UPPCL if the refunds were restricted to only 93,138 consumers.Meanwhile, UPPCL also announced another relief measure concerning nearly 83 lakh smart meter consumers who had earlier been shifted from postpaid to prepaid billing.The corporation said that while converting consumers to the prepaid system, their security deposits had been adjusted against their electricity bills.Now, as consumers are being shifted back to the postpaid system, the deducted security deposit will be restored in four equal instalments. The first instalment is being reflected in the July electricity bill, while the remaining three instalments will be adjusted in bills over the next three months.
