“NDA govt should answer our questions on smart meters,” demands Tejashwi Yadav

New Delhi [India], September 29 (ANI): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav unleashed an attack on the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government on Sunday over the installation of smart meters. He claimed that the Nitish-BJP government is oppressing the people of Bihar and that every Bihari is disturbed by the government’s looting done in the name of smart meters.

“NDA government should answer our questions on smart meters! By installing smart meters in the state with the lowest per capita income in the country, doubling the electricity rates and selling the most expensive electricity, the Nitish-BJP government is oppressing the people of Bihar. Every Bihari is troubled by the government looting in the name of smart meters,” Yadav posted on X.

“Complaints are coming from all over Bihar that the electricity bill has doubled. The government should explain why this is happening? If it is assumed that due to the glitch in the smart meter, only Rs 100 is being defrauded from each household, then the Nitish government is illegally collecting thousands of crores of rupees every month from consumers across Bihar. The smart meter issue is related to every household and voices are coming from every household against smart meters. The collusion between power companies, officials and ruling leaders in the name of smart meters should be ended immediately. There is no compulsion to install smart meters in the gazette of Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, then for whose benefit is the government doing this? Bihar’s electricity infrastructure is outdated. The consumer says that the meter is fast, the government is saying that the meter is not fast, then who will decide whether the meter is fast or not? The department that is doing the wrong thing is itself saying that everything is fine. Our demand is that there should be an impartial committee to resolve this issue,” Yadav pointed out.

Lashing out further Yadav stated that there are 2 crore electricity consumers in Bihar, out of which only 50 lakh consumers have installed smart meters. Before installing new meters, the government should first clear the doubts and doubts of the current 50 lakh consumers and satisfy them.

Adding to this he asked, “What is the collusion of the government with the electricity companies? Can the calibration of the meter not be wrong? Is there a smart meter in the Supaul house of the power minister? If yes, then when was it installed? How many honourables and officers have smart meters installed in their government and personal residences? The meter has been changed thrice in the last 20 years, why was there a need to change the meter every time? Is there any commercial relationship between the meter companies, bill collection agencies, ruling JDU leaders and officials? The electricity companies collect the charge for the installation of smart meters from the consumers in the first two or three months but why do they not tell it? What is the total cost of the meter collected from the consumers on a meter of Rs 200?”

Questioing over the credibility of the smart meters, Yadav stated, “If the so-called smart meter is really smart then why is its user interface and system so slow and faulty that there is confusion, trouble, lack of information and money getting wasted everywhere? And this trouble leads to more extortion and corruption. Why is there so much confusion and glitch in the interface and system of prepaid smart meters that the public does not know where their money has gone? How much money is left? Electricity consumers do not even know where their money is being deducted, why it is being deducted and at what rate?

“Consumers get messages for money but when money is deposited, there is no message whether the money has been received or not. There is no message about when the electricity connection is going to be cut or how little amount is left. There is no message about the money being received and electricity will be restored soon. Whether new recharge has been done or not, if yes, then why does it take hours for electricity to be restored? Nothing is updated in real time and on enquiring, no one tells this and neither is this clearly mentioned in anyone’s bill. Due to all these reasons, the consumer is always troubled,” he added.