One Glitch, Many Bills? Srinagar Case Sparks Fears Of Smart Meter Accuracy

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- A Srinagar household's discovery that a smart electricity meter allegedly doubled actual power consumption for nearly three years, acknowledged by the power department as a technical configuration error, has exposed potential gaps in billing safeguards. While officials call it an isolated incident, the case highlights how undetected smart meter glitches can lead to prolonged overcharging, raising questions about system-wide audits, retrospective corrections, and consumer protection mechanisms across the smart metering programme.

The issue surfaced in Srinagar's Buchpora area, where the consumer, Dr Bashir Ahmad Makhdoomi, noticed persistently high electricity bills despite modest household usage following the installation of a smart meter. The matter was taken up by his brother, M H Makhdoomi, a former vigilance awardee and whistleblower in a Bandipora PDD fraud case, who began tracking daily consumption data and comparing it with actual usage patterns.

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According to Makhdoomi, despite repeated complaints over the last three years and multiple inspections by the Power Development Department (PDD), the daily consumption readings continued to remain abnormally high. Even after replacing internal GI piping with PPR fittings at a personal cost of around ₹1.65 lakh, the electricity usage figures showed only marginal reduction.

“On days when only basic lighting was used, the meter still recorded consumption as high as 48 units, which was inexplicable,” Makhdoomi said.

A detailed review of billing data downloaded from the PDD portal revealed that while the smart meter correctly recorded opening and closing readings, the system was billing double the actual difference. For instance, an actual daily consumption of around 23 units was being charged as approximately 46 units.

Makhdoomi said the anomaly was later acknowledged by the PDD helpline, which reportedly admitted that a configuration error may have occurred during meter installation. Following this, he personally visited the office of the Superintending Engineer at the PDD Data Centre in Bemina on December 31.

Officials there, including a senior officer on the verge of retirement, accepted the presence of a technical glitch and directed corrective action. Subsequently, the department adjusted the account and reflected a credit balance of about ₹34,500.

However, Makhdoomi has alleged that the correction was applied only for a limited period from February 2025 to December 2025, covering roughly 10 months, despite the error persisting since the installation of the smart meter nearly three years ago.

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“Over ₹3 lakh has been paid during this period. Correcting just 10 months of billing does not address the full extent of overcharging,” he said, adding that the department is legally bound to provide complete billing data from the date of meter installation.

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The credited amount has been adjusted as an advance in the consumer's account, rather than refunded, and does not include any interest on excess collections, Makhdoomi pointed out.

He has sought full retrospective correction of bills, refund of excess payments, and has also raised concerns over the absence of a maker-checker mechanism to verify bill accuracy before charges are levied on consumers.

“The department needs to attach a certificate with each bill so that the correctness of calculations of bills are assured and checked under maker checker provisions,” Makhdoomi said.

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