Noida Sec-10 residents write to Yogi, say new meters inflating power bills

Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited officials denied any fault in the electricity meters, saying readings detected and bills generated were correct

NOIDA Residents of Noida’s Sector 19 say their electricity bills have doubled since the power discom installed new “smart” electric meters in their neighbourhood in January. In a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, the residents said the new meters are faulty and that the power discom has not heeded their concerns.

In the beginning of January 2024, the power discom had replaced all old meters in several sectors, including Sector 19, with new smart meters. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo)

The power discom, meanwhile, said the new meters were functioning properly.

Noida’s Sector 19 has a population of around 25,000.

In the beginning of January 2024, the power discom replaced all old meters in several sectors, including Sector 19, with new smart meters. Since then, Sector 19 residents have complained to the power discom as well as the federation of Noida residents’ welfare association (FONRWA), the umbrella residents’ body of Gautam Budh Nagar, about inflated power bills.

Data was not immediately available on how many sectors have had the new power meters installed.

“For more than two months we have been getting inflated electricity bills that are at least twice as much as what we used to pay before January. Despite taking up the issue with power officials and holding several meetings with FONRWA, nothing was done to address the problem. So we have written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and raised the issue,” said RC Gupta, president of the Sector 19 RWA.

“The residents have been receiving inflated bills and the smart meters installed here seem to be faulty,” said the letter addressed to the chief minister. HT has seen the letter. The Sector 19 RWA said that data on average figures of electricity bills for the four months prior to the installation of new meters and the average figure of the power bills generated after the installation of new meters has been incorporated into the letter addressed to the chief minister.

Another resident said that the process of generating electricity bills has become opaque. “Previously discom officials visited our homes to check meters with a hand-held device. Now they just take a photo of the meter and send it to their office,” said Sumit Kumar, a resident.

Officials of the Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (PVVNL) said that there was no fault in the electricity meters and the readings detected and bills generated were correct.

“The electric meters were thoroughly checked before they were installed and they are not faulty. Sector 19 is not the only neighbourhood where we have installed the new meters. It is possible that the fault lay in previous meters that were not working properly and were generating lower electricity bills. We have also held a meeting with FONRWA and assured them that the electricity meters are working properly. In case there is any issue, we will recheck the meters installed,” said Kuldeep Tomar, sub-divisional officer of PVVNL Noida.