7 SMSes to be sent to consumers for power bill payment, says UP energy minister

Heated exchanges witnessed between members of treasury benches and opposition when Sharma held the erstwhile SP regime responsible for the problem of incorrect meter reading/ inflated power bills

LUCKNOW Energy minister AK Sharma on Wednesday said the state government had issued instructions for not disconnecting power supply for non-payment of bills.

The minister declared that the UP government was making all-out efforts to bring about an improvement in the power supply situation in the state. (Pic for representation)

But a system for sending messages to consumers had been introduced to minimise disconnections, and seven SMSes would be sent to consumers to deposit the bill, he said replying to questions during Question Hour in the Assembly.

The minister declared that the UP government was making all-out efforts to bring about an improvement in the power supply situation in the state.

Heated exchanges were witnessed between the members of treasury benches and the opposition when Sharma held the erstwhile Samajwadi Party regime responsible for the problem of incorrect meter reading/ inflated power bills.

“Yeh babool ka ped aapne hi lagaya hai” (You are responsible for this problem),” said Sharma, to which SP members reacted. Leader of opposition Akhilesh Yadav said the minister should not have made such observations. Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak also wanted to say something, but it could not be heard amid the din in the House.

The minister said a new system would be introduced over the next months to minimise the problem of incorrect reading. Strict action was being taken against those responsible for inflated bills and 2,508 meter readers were removed from service while 100% exemption was given in surcharge under the One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme launched for domestic consumers and farmers, he added.

He said so far 14 lakh people were benefitted by the scheme.

Sharma said power infrastructure was being strengthened with the help of the Centre’s revamped distribution sector scheme and efforts were being made to address the issues of replacement of faulty transformers and old wire network etc.

Before 2017, faulty transformers were not replaced for weeks (when the SP was in power) while this change of transformers was being done in hours now, he said. He said 22,339 (majras) areas across the state were yet to be electrified, but these would be electrified soon.