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The long-running conflict and massive protests by consumers regarding prepaid smart meters in Uttar Pradesh has now calmed down forever. From the roads to the offices of the electricity department, incidents of ruckus and vandalism have been reported over prepaid meters. Although, some time ago, the Uttar Pradesh government had banned this system, despite this, there was a constant apprehension in the minds of the general public that after the controversy subsides, the government may implement it again through the back door. But now this huge tension of crores of electricity consumers of UP is over forever. In a very important and historic decision, the Electricity Regulatory Commission has legally abolished the requirement of prepaid meters. Now, unless there is any major change in Section 47(5) of ‘Electricity Act-2003’, prepaid meter will not be forcibly imposed on any consumer in Uttar Pradesh.
Big order of Regulatory Commission: Consumers will get both prepaid and postpaid options
The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has made it clear in its official order issued on Friday that electricity consumers in Uttar Pradesh will have full right to choose prepaid or postpaid meter. Electricity companies (Power Corporation) will have to work as per the strict rules of the Electricity Act in all circumstances and they cannot impose prepaid system on anyone as per their wish. The Commission has clarified that this rule will be equally applicable to both the old electricity connections already running and the new connections to be taken in future. This historic decision of the Regulatory Commission has come after a marathon hearing on an urgent public importance proposal filed by the ‘State Electricity Consumer Council’ on 16 April 2026.
UP became the first state in the country, where a separate special order came on Section 47(5)
Chairman of the State Electricity Consumer Council and member of the State Advisory Committee, Awadhesh Kumar Verma has called this decision a huge victory for the consumers. He said that Uttar Pradesh has now become the first state in the entire country, where the Regulatory Commission has issued a separate special order to abolish the requirement of Section 47(5) of the Electricity Act. After this order, now the State Government, Power Corporation (UPPCL) or any power company will not be able to make any changes or arbitrarily at their level. After this strict decision of the Commission, now the Power Corporation will have to make major technical changes in its billing software, so that consumers can easily get both the options.
Public importance petition filed against arbitrariness of prepaid meters in multi-storey buildings
On one hand, common consumers have got a lot of relief, on the other hand, the legal battle has intensified to end the plight of people living in high-rise buildings in big cities like Lucknow, Noida and Ghaziabad. The State Electricity Consumer Council has filed another important petition of public importance in the Regulatory Commission on Friday itself. In this petition, a demand has been made to cancel the old order issued by the Commission on August 10, 2018, under which it was mandatory to install only prepaid meters in multi-storey buildings. After the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has abolished the requirement of prepaid meters in the entire country from April 1, 2026, the demand for removing this old provincial rule has also started rising strongly.
Hooliganism of builders and RWAs will be banned, connections will be provided directly to power companies
In the petition filed, serious complaints of many big builders and Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of Lucknow and Noida have also been registered. It is alleged that these builders and RWAs are collecting arbitrary electricity rates from consumers through prepaid meters. Not only this, the biggest problem is that the maintenance charges of the society are also forcibly deducted from the same prepaid electricity meter, due to which the electricity of the consumers is cut off if the maintenance money is not paid. In this petition, about 20 to 25 lakh consumers of multi-storey buildings are affected. The Consumer Council has demanded that flat owners living in multi-storey buildings should also be given the legal right to take direct connections from the Electricity Distribution Corporation and illegal electricity rates fixed by builders should be immediately and completely banned.
