Jammu, 19-08-2023 : While welcoming the members present in the meeting Sh. Arun Gupta apprised about the agenda of the meeting i.e. installation of smart meters and subsequently switching over to the prepaid system of billing by PDD. In this regard Sh. Arun Gupta apprised the members that he has taken up this matter at various forums and also held a press conference and meeting with MD JPDCL Sh. Shiv Anat Tatyal on 8th August 2023 wherein he has raised the pressing issues relating to escalating power bills after the installation of smart meters which have caused distress among the consumers and also questioned the necessity of replacing digital meters with smart meters. He further said that he has voiced apprehension about the installation of smart meters on the electric polls which have generated unease among the general public and has suggested that the meters should be installed within the consumer’s premises and urged that this abrupt shift can cause undue mental agony and distress among the power consumers and termed it as a direct attack the fundamental rights of the consumers.
Sh. Arun Gupta further said that the government especially PDD is trying to mislead the public by comparing the meter reading of smart meters with the digital meters and said that the department should come up with plausible reasons that how the consumers have received inflated bills after installation of smart meters.
The government should rather take the issue on board and constitute a committee to look into the grievances of the public. He also said that government is busy in making excuses and the department has publically accepted that there may be some difference in meter reading as previously bills were prepared manually as per the reading submitted by their staff. Sh. Arun Gupta said that it is strange that after the installation of smart meters a consumer who used to receive power bills for Rs. 1000/- p.m. but after installation of smart meters he received a bill for Rs. 5000/- p.m. and next month he again received the bill for an amount of approximately Rs. 1000/- only. We have been raising this aspect with the PDD but have not got any satisfactory reply to this unexplainable phenomenon.
The members present in the meeting while expressing their views said the government should concentrate to bring down the transmission losses which are highest in our state as compared to other UTs and states of our country. They also opined that government should take into confidence the members of the business community and civil society before implementing any policy or decision concerning the general public. Some members also expressed that the government is harassing the general public and members of the business community on one pretext or the others. They also complain that in case after the installation of smart meters, the electricity gets disrupted nobody cares to set right the same. The members with one voice suggested that since the administration has not bothered to look into the grievances of the consumers regarding excessive billing with smart meters, Jammu Bandh is the only solution to highlight our genuine demands and are ready to shut down business establishments for an indefinite period. The members present in the meeting authorized President CCI Sh. Arun Gupta to take any decision including announcing Jammu Bandh at an appropriate time.
Besides the office bearers namely Sh. Rajeev Gupta, Jr. Vice President, Sh. Manish Gupta, Secretary General, Sh. Rajesh Gupta, Secretary and Sh. Rajesh Gupta, Treasurer, Presidents and General Secretaries of more than 100 associations were also present in the meeting