Assam Congress questions the authenticity of APDCL prepaid meters over alleged escalation of electricity bills

All India Professionals Congress (AIPC) has come heavily on the state government over the inflated APDCL electricity bills and installation of prepaid meters.
 
President of the Assam state unit of AIPC and State Congress secretary Gauravv Somani said that just by issuing toll-free numbers and Whatsapp numbers for the prepaid meter consumers government is trying to take the escape route and avoid the seriousness of the entire matter. 

Somani said why is the Government not being able to address the drastic increase in electricity bill after the installation of digital prepaid meters. The electricity bills with earlier installed smart meters and recently installed digital meters have resulted in an increase of 25% to 30% in monthly electricity bills and this is only possible if there is a difference between the earlier static electronic meter and the new digital smart prepaid meters regarding the measurement of electricity and probably APDCL is not also following the same BIS for electrical Metrology in installing the new prepaid meters. 

Also Read: Assam: APDCL smart meter users most satisfied customers, claims national survey

Somani said "It was either the earlier smart meters with some default resulting in low electricity bill generation or there is a fault in the newly digital prepaid meters showing escalated electricity bills " 

Government has to clarify its stand on this. The profits of the APDCL in the year 2021-22 were more than rupees 300 crores and the estimated profit for 2022-23 is around 500 crore rupees as informed. 

AIPC asserted that APDCL should not act as a profit-making business enterprise but rather should strive hard to render service at the optimum cost of operations. 

In the name of digital prepaid meters APDCL has started looting money from the general public in name of electricity bills and people are clueless about the amount of electricity consumed and its bill structure. 

Since now APDCL is a profit-making enterprise, Government should provide electricity to the people at a subsidized rate or should provide 200 units of free electricity to every household. 

Also, AIPC has demanded the Government to enquire about the genuinely of the installed digital prepaid meters which have raised doubts about the escalated electricity bills and further hit the pockets of the people of Assam.