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The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to discontinue the smart prepaid electricity meter system across the state and convert the already-installed devices to postpaid with immediate effect, Energy Minister A K Sharma said on Friday. The move comes amid growing protests in several districts over alleged excess billing and irregularities linked to smart prepaid meters installed under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). According to an official statement, the decision was taken following directions from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in view of consumer convenience and grievances. Under the new arrangement, consumers will receive electricity bills after consumption, with bills for electricity used in May 2026 to be issued in June under the postpaid system. Sharma said formal orders had been issued for implementation of the new system across Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Dakshinanchal and Pashchimanchal power distribution corporations as well as KESCO in Kanpur. "Prioritisin
The government on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that consumers are not required to install pre-paid electricity meters. Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour, Power Minster Manohar Lal Khattar rejected suggestions that the government was compelling consumers to adopt pre-paid meters in a manner similar to private companies. In response to a question regarding how poor farmers, who rely on daily earnings, would manage to pay for electricity, he explained that options for small recharges lasting five to ten days are available. However, he noted that serial defaulters - those who take "pride" in not paying their electricity bills - would be required to switch to pre-paid meters to reduce the risk of non-payment. The minister emphasised that power companies are commercial in nature and need to earn revenue to provide electricity to consumers.
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company plans to complete the demerger of its agriculture arm by April, a key step ahead of its planned initial public offering for December, a top official has said. "We are targeting an IPO by December for MSEDCL (Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company), and before that, we will demerge our agriculture business, which we aim to complete by April," its Chairman and Managing Director Lokesh Chandra told PTI on the sidelines of the Mumbai Climate Week. The agriculture segment will be carved out as a separate company, not a subsidiary, ensuring its liabilities do not remain on the balance sheet of the core distribution utility, Chandra said. MSEDCL carries total dues of about Rs 96,000 crore, of which nearly Rs 76,000 crore relates to unpaid agricultural consumption, he said. The accumulation of these arrears has led to higher working capital borrowings and financial strain, despite the core distribution business being operationa
A massive outage knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co said. The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park in the early afternoon and growing in size. PG&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cause of the blackouts. The outage represents roughly one-third of the utility company's customers in the city. Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X there were significant transit disruptions happening citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat down traffic signals as four-way stops. The city's transportation agencies said they were bypassing some Muni bus and BART train stations because of ..