Kolkata: Two days after issuing an official notification declaring that installation of smart meters in residences will remain temporarily suspended, state Power minister Aroop Biswas said on Wednesday that such meters that have already been installed in households would be treated as normal ones.
“The Central government which is anti-people has forcefully tried to impose prepaid smart meters upon the people of our state. We are thankful to our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for stalling the installation of smart meters,” said Biswas.
He made it clear that all the smart meters that have already been installed as a pilot project will now be treated as normal meters and consumers will have to pay bills once every three months.
Paying bills after three months is the standard practice for domestic consumers under West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. Speaker Biman Banerjee soon after the question-answer Session in the state Assembly said that some legislators wanted to know about smart meters. Minister Biswas, who was present at the Assembly, immediately made a statement clarifying the state government’s stand on it.
Protests erupted across the state as consumers claimed that after the introduction of smart meters, their bills had significantly increased. Many consumers claimed their electricity bills had gone up two times or three times immediately after the new smart meters were installed.
Experts in the field have, however, suggested that smart meters offer benefits similar to prepaid mobile recharge systems, with accurate
billing, in-house display units for real-time power consumption updates and remote-control features through mobile Apps.