Prepaid smart meter rollback starts in UP: What changes for 84 lakh consumers

Under the revised system, consumers will no longer need to recharge their balances in advance. Instead, they will receive monthly bills after electricity consumption, similar to the earlier billing mechanism. This means electricity usage in May 2026 will now be billed in June 2026.

Importantly, consumers will not have to physically replace their existing smart meters. According to a government order issued on May 6 by Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) Managing Director Nitish Kumar, the transition from prepaid to postpaid mode will happen through backend software changes at the UPPCL headquarters level.

2. Billing cycle

Under the restored system, smart meter bills will be generated by the 10th of every month and sent to consumers through SMS and WhatsApp. Consumers will also be able to access bills through official WhatsApp chatbots and the 1912 electricity helpline.

For areas facing connectivity or communication issues, where automatic readings are unavailable by the 5th of the month, meter-reading agencies will conduct manual readings to ensure billing is completed.

The government has also clarified how the new payment cycle will work.

Consumers will get 15 days from the date of bill generation to make payments. If bills remain unpaid, a seven-day disconnection period will kick in. After this, late payment surcharge will apply as per existing tariff rules and the UP Electricity Supply Code-2005.

Sources said that while the smart meters themselves will remain in place, the billing software will need reconfiguration because prepaid billing was based on daily consumption calculations, whereas the restored postpaid system will calculate usage on a monthly basis.

3. Clearing dues

Alongside the rollback, the state government has announced relief for consumers with pending dues till April 30, 2026. Domestic consumers will be allowed to clear arrears in 10 instalments, while other categories of consumers will be given a 40%-30%-30% instalment structure.

Sources said the issue of security deposits also saw a last-minute revision. In its original May 6 order, UPPCL had said security deposits adjusted during the earlier shift to prepaid billing would be recalculated under current cost norms and recovered from consumers in four equal installments.

UPPCL issued a correction order late on May 7, removing the reference to recalculation under current cost norms. The revised clause clarified that the security amount earlier adjusted during prepaid conversion would simply be added back to bills in four equal installments beginning June-July 2026.

“When postpaid consumers were shifted to prepaid, their earlier security amount was adjusted in the bill…. As per the May 6 order, consumers were expected to pay fresh security deposits as per current cost norms. However, we raised strong objections as it would put an additional burden on the consumer,” said Avadhesh Verma, Chairman of the UP Electricity Consumer Council.

“Now UPPCL has clarified that the security charged would be based on earlier calculations and recovered in installments,” he added.

Verma said nearly 84 lakh consumers in Uttar Pradesh had been shifted to smart meters. “The biggest issue is the lack of trust in the billing mechanism linked to smart meters. The government will have to rebuild consumer confidence,” he said.

4. Special camps from May 15

To address complaints during the transition, UPPCL has directed all DISCOMS to organise special smart meter grievance camps between May 15 and June 30 at executive engineer and subdivision offices.

Officials said these camps will handle billing disputes, mobile number corrections, meter-reading complaints, smart meter transition issues and account reconciliation.