UPPCL campaign to recover Rs 1,066cr smart meter dues; 80% users in red

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has launched a two-week campaign to pull lakhs of smart meter users out of negative balances that now total Rs 1,066.66 crore statewide.Negative balance means that a consumer has consumed more electricity than paid for, resulting in outstanding dues.
Internal dashboards show that of 54.81 lakh prepaid consumers recorded in meter data management system, 44.02 lakh (about 80%) are in the red.UPPCL managing director Pankaj Kumar has issued directives to all distribution companies to run special awareness campaign from Feb 2-17 focusing on three basics – asking consumers to recharge, verifying mobile numbers via OTP, and onboarding them to UPPCL smart app.Superintending engineers will act as nodal officers, substation-wise lists of negative-balance consumers will be circulated, and teams will conduct outreach, training, and publicity.Officials said that consumers were being asked to keep a positive balance as persistent negatives could lead to disconnection.According to the letter, PuVVNL carries largest burden with 15.54 lakh consumers (Rs 374.19 crore) followed by MVVNL (9.9 lakh consumers; Rs 248.85 crore), PVVNL (7.89 lakh consumers; Rs 223.87 crore), DVVNL (10.29 lakh consumers; Rs 209.73 crore; and KESCo (41,166 consumers; Rs 10.02 crore).The depth of dues is uneven. The Rs 1,001-5,000 band, with 14.36 lakh consumers, has the highest amount of Rs 322.43 crore. At least 25.48 lakh consumers owe up to Rs 1,000. A smaller but high-risk tail remains with 5,147 consumers owing over Rs 1 lakh (total Rs 160.1 crore).Recharge behaviour is another red flag with 2.65 crore consumers showing ‘never recharged', hinting at onboarding gaps and data hygiene issues."Areas with deep arrears — such as Varanasi-zone 1, Gorakhpur-zone 1, Sitapur, and Ayodhya — may need targeted recovery and grievance redressal beyond awareness drives," an official said.Avadhesh Kumar Verma, a member of UPERC advisory committee and chairperson of UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, claimed that widespread complaints about faulty billing, absence of proper meter testing, and the failure of grievance-redressal mechanisms had intensified public resentment.