Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh govt’s decision to relax electricity disconnection norms for smart prepaid meter users has brought temporary relief to lakhs of domestic consumers, particularly those with low sanctioned loads. However, a close look at official data reveals that economically weaker households continue to bear the greatest burden of the prepaid electricity regime.Announcing the decision on Friday, state energy minister Arvind Kumar Sharma said consumers with smart prepaid meters up to 1 kW will not face disconnection for 30 days even if their balance turns negative.For consumers with 2 kW connections, power supply will continue as long as outstanding dues remain within Rs 200.Officials have also been directed to send five SMS alerts before any disconnection, a move aimed at improving transparency and giving consumers adequate warning to clear dues.The timing of the relaxation is significant, coming amid rising temperatures and growing complaints of power interruptions. The government has stressed that infrastructure upgrades, including the installation of around 30 lakh electricity poles and enhanced transformer capacity, are intended to ensure uninterrupted supply during peak summer demand.Yet, data on prepaid smart meter connections underscores why the issue remains contentious. Of the 75.05 lakh domestic connections (LMV-1 category) converted to prepaid mode across Uttar Pradesh, as many as 42.19 lakh belong to consumers with just a 1 kW sanctioned load. Another 23.78 lakh consumers fall in the 2 kW category. Together, these two groups account for nearly 88% of all prepaid domestic connections, pointing to a disproportionate impact on low-income and Below Poverty Line households.The figures also show that negative balances are most prevalent among small consumers. Nearly 20.15 lakh 1 kW consumers currently have negative balances amounting to Rs 427.78 crore, while 2 kW consumers account for 7.41 lakh cases with dues of Rs 210.92 crore. In contrast, higher-load categories record far fewer negative balance cases.In total, negative balances across categories touch nearly 29.26 lakh consumers, involving Rs 686 crore, while their previous postpaid arrears stand at Rs 3,388 crore. In total, more than Rs 4,075 crore power dues are pending.Consumer advocacy group argues that the problem lies in enforcing prepaid billing without consent.“With the Central Electricity Authority ending the mandatory prepaid mode for smart meters from April 1, we, the consumer representative, demand that Uttar Pradesh roll back compulsory prepaid conversions and restore consumer choice,” said Avadhesh Kumar Verma, member of the central advisory committee and chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad.
