Minister begins ‘pre-paid power meter campaign from his house

Leading by example, Uttar Pradesh energy minister Shrikant Sharma on Friday got a smart pre-paid electricity meter installed at his official residence. He did so

Leading by example, Uttar Pradesh energy minister Shrikant Sharma on Friday got a smart pre-paid electricity meter installed at his official residence. He did so while launching a campaign to install such meters at all government residences and offices, which together have a whopping around Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion) power dues pending against them.

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The idea behind the campaign is to recover the pending dues from the government departments and residences and stop accumulation of dues in future by installing pre-paid meters, said Sharma while talking to the media persons here.

The minister also urged all public representatives to come forward and get pre-paid meters installed at their official residences.

“Our government is committed to providing affordable and uninterrupted power supply to all and the pre-paid meter campaign is an attempt in that direction,” Sharma said, adding, “Installation of such meters will bring revenue in advance to the UPPCL and this will help it provide uninterrupted power at affordable rates.”

He pointed out that providing affordable electricity to consumers was among the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) as discussed during the UP Vidhan Sabha’s 48-hour uninterrupted special session on October 2.

“For this to happen, payment of electricity bills on time is necessary. Pre-paid meter is the way to provide cheap electricity to the poor. I have made a beginning from my own home,” he said.

He also urged the general public to go for pre-paid meters and pay their bills regularly to get better services. Pre-paid meters, he said helps consumers plan their consumption, resulting into lower bills. He said UPPCL had already installed 5.5 lakh smart and normal pre-paid meters at private residences in the state, “and in future only smart pre-paid meters would be given with a new electricity connection.”

The minister said government departments had around Rs 13,000 crore ((Rs 130 billion) power dues pending against them and the urban development department and Jal Sansthan were the major defaulters.

“The government does make budgetary allocation for payment of power bills by its departments but they, somehow, do not pay the bills regularly,” he rued.

Sharma said electricity theft was also a major obstacle in providing cheap electricity to the people. He also appealed to consumers to give information on 1912 (helpline) to prevent electricity theft. “The UPPCL has introduced power police stations in the districts. If the common people also join the campaign, the entire state will get its benefit,” the minister said.

UPPCL chairman-cum-principal secretary, energy, Arvind Kumar and managing director M Devraj were also present at the campaign launch.