The Assam Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (APDCL) has rubbished allegations that consumers are having to pay more ever since smart meters have been introduced.
In response to such complaints, the APDCL has said that consumers “feel” that they are paying more but actually they are paying for only what they have used.
A consumer in Lachit Nagar area talking to GPlus said, “Now, in two days we have to recharge for around Rs 5000 whereas we used to pay Rs 30000 a month for our office when it was post-paid.”
Similarly, many consumers across the city feel that they are paying more after shifting to smart pre-paid meters.
A senior official from APDCL said, “There is no way that people will pay extra by paying through pre-paid smart meters,” adding that people “feel” that they are paying extra because they recharge “multiple times”. He said that many APDCL employees have also installed pre-paid meters and because they recharge at once they realise that they are not paying extra.
He claimed that any such complaint be resolved and also explained with technical evidence that no one is paying extra. He also said that there might be some individual cases which may be because of technical issues, and can be resolved if complaint is filed with APDCL.
He said all electricity connections in Guwahati will be converted into the pre-paid system soon. There are around 3.7 lakh connections in Guwahati and only around 75000 connections are still post-paid.