Tejashwi Yadav targeted the Nitish government on smart meters.

Tejashwi Yadav targeted the Nitish government on smart meters.

Patna September 29, 2024: Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly and prominent figure of RJD raised several concerns regarding the installation of smart meters in Bihar.

On Sunday, he posed a dozen pointed questions to the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, expressing discontent over the high electricity rates in the state. He claimed that despite having the lowest per capita income per capita income in the country, electricity rates are allegedly double here.

Tejashwi Yadav criticized the government stating that the Nitish Kumar-BJP administration was oppressing the people of Bihar through what he referred to as “government loot” in the name of smart meters. He argued that the high costs associated with these meters were placing a heavy financial burden on ordinary Biharis, already struggling with economic hardship.

In a written statement, Tejashwi Yadav asked why almost 100% of consumers believe that their electricity bill has doubled or increased by one and a half times after the installation of smart meters. Complaints are coming from across Bihar that the electricity bill has doubled. The government should explain why this is happening.

“If it is assumed that due to the fault in the smart meter, only ₹ 100 is being defrauded from every household, then the Nitish government is illegally collecting thousands of crores of rupees every month from consumers across Bihar,” Tejashwi Yadav alleged.

“The smart meter issue is related to every household and voices are coming from every household against smart meters. The collusion of 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?” he asked.

The electricity infrastructure of Bihar is outdated. The consumer says that the meter is fast, but 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. We demand that there should be an impartial committee to settle this issue.

Bihar has 2 crore electricity consumers, 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.

Tejashwi Yadav also asked what is the collusion of the government with the electricity companies. Can the calibration of the meter not be wrong?

“Does the power minister have a smart meter in Supaul’s house? If yes, then when was it installed? How many honourables ministers and officers have smart meters installed in their government and personal residences? The meter has been changed three times 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 officers?” Tejashwi Yadav asked.

“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 us? What is the total cost of the meter collected from the consumers for a meter of ₹ 200?” Tejashwi Yadav further asked.

“If the so-called smart meter is really smart, then why is its user interface and system so slow and bad that there is confusion, trouble, lack of information and money getting misappropriated everywhere? Due to this problem, more recovery and corruption take place. Why is there so much mess and fault in the interface and system of prepaid smart meters that the public does not even know where their money has gone? Electricity consumers do not even know how much money is left, where their money is being deducted, why it is being deducted and at what rate?” he asked.

Tejashwi Yadav further alleged that 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 disconnected 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 enquiry, no one tells this and neither is this thing clearly mentioned in anyone’s bill. Due to all these reasons, the consumer is always troubled.

Also Read: Jagadanand Singh said he lives in two rooms led to lower power bills.

EOM.