Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has issued a notice to the managing director of Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (MVVNL) over alleged irregularities in the testing of smart meters.In its notice, UPERC sought a detailed clarification within 10 days on how MVVNL conducted testing of smart meters (under Indian Standard IS 16444 Part 1 and Part 2) despite allegedly lacking the required accreditation.The Commission referred to a complaint submitted by the chairman of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad (UPRVUP), Avadhesh Kumar Verma, who alleged that MVVNL’s Hi Tech Test Laboratory in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, did not possess National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation for testing smart meters as per IS 16444 standards.The dispute began after a four-member committee constituted by the UPPCL chairman on the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath submitted a preliminary report on smart meter testing conducted at MVVNL’s laboratory.Questioning the credibility of the process, the consumer body claimed that while some parameters of ordinary electronic meters and smart prepaid meters may be similar, the laboratory did not have authorisation to conduct comprehensive testing of smart prepaid meters.Verma said the matter became more serious after MVVNL publicly claimed it had full authority to carry out acceptance tests under IS 16444 standards. Following this, complaints were filed before UPERC and the NABL, which reportedly initiated an inquiry.UPRVUP has also demanded an impartial verification of IS 16444 recognition and NABL certification held by IIT-Kanpur and other testing institutions to ensure transparency in the entire process.
