Major Update on Smart Meters in UP: What Happens if Your Balance Hits Zero? Understand the New ‘No-Cut’ Rule

UP Electricity Connection: The Uttar Pradesh government has taken a significant decision regarding small-scale electricity consumers; now, even if the balance runs out or goes into the negative, the connection will not be immediately disconnected, and prior alerts will be issued.

Good News for Smart Meter Users: The Uttar Pradesh government has provided major relief to small electricity consumers. Now, even if your electricity balance drops into the negative, your connection will not be cut off immediately. Most notably, for users with connections up to 1 kilowatt (kW), the power supply will not be disconnected for a period of one month.

Meanwhile, for users with 2 kW connections, the electricity supply will remain active even if their balance goes into the negative by up to ₹200. This decision is expected to provide particular relief to those who, for various reasons, are unable to pay their electricity bills on time. The government has taken this step in view of the summer season to ensure that no one is deprived of this essential utility service.

5 SMS Alerts Before Disconnection

Additionally, the government has issued clear directives to the Electricity Department to send at least five SMS notifications to any user before disconnecting their power supply.

The first message will be sent when the balance drops to 30 percent.
Subsequently, a second message will be sent when the balance reaches 10 percent.
A third message will be sent once the balance has completely run out.
A fourth message will be sent one day prior to the scheduled disconnection.
Finally, a fifth message will be sent after the connection has been disconnected.

This system ensures that users receive timely information, enabling them to recharge their accounts without any further delay. Furthermore, in light of the intensifying summer heat, officials have been instructed to ensure that there are no disruptions in the power supply and to resolve any consumer complaints immediately.

Relief for Smart Meter Users

An important point to note is that under this new system, even if a smart meter’s balance runs out, the electricity supply will not be cut off immediately.
For instance, for connections up to 2 kW, the supply will continue even if the balance goes into the negative by up to ₹200.
Similarly, for connections up to 1 kW, the power supply will not be disconnected.
Additionally, connections will not be disconnected on Sundays or on government holidays. Special Concessions on New Smart Meters

In areas where smart meters have recently been installed, users have been granted additional relief, specifically:

There will be an initial 15-day conversion period.
Furthermore, for 30 days following this period, connections will not be disconnected.
This will provide people with sufficient time to familiarize themselves with the new system.

High-Level Committee Formed for Investigation

A high-level committee has been constituted to assess the quality of the smart meters; this committee includes experts from IIT Kanpur. The committee is scheduled to submit its report within 10 days, following which further decisions will be taken.