WB: People’s Resistance Halts Prepaid Smart Meter Project
Sudip Dutta
THE private sector-led prepaid smart metering project has been stalled in West Bengal. This marks a significant victory for the people’s movement in the state. For the first time in the past one and a half decades, the people of West Bengal were able to assert their own agenda in an organised manner and compel the TMC government to roll back its anti-people policy. It is, therefore, crucial to reflect on the content of the movement and the form in which it was carried out. Equally important is identifying the ideological core of this struggle to broaden and deepen its ambit in the coming days.
Electricity, as a sector, holds strategic importance in two unique forms: first, its essential role in sustaining all aspects of modern life; and second, its direct outreach, through a permanent infrastructure and service mechanism, to every household in society. If workers’ organisations operating in this sector fully grasp and act upon its strategic potential, they can unsettle even the most authoritarian of states.
Reflecting on the experience of this struggle, it is important to note that one of the key risks faced by the movement was being branded as "anti-development." This has been a persistent challenge for working-class movements whenever they oppose capital-led technological transitions. The success of this movement lies in the organisation's effectiveness in exposing the ruling class’s true intentions behind such technological interventions, as well as their broader implications for the working class and the general public. The Electricity Employees’ Federation of India (EEFI) played a vital role in this regard, successfully unearthing the hidden corporate motives behind this highly controversial programme.
The prepaid smart metering initiative is a forcefully imposed central government project under the guise of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). This scheme mandates that all state governments not only ensure the installation but also the operation and maintenance (under the TOTEX model) of prepaid smart meters by private corporate entities. The average market cost of these meters, as quoted by private bidders, is around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000, with a promised lifespan of only six years. This means that every domestic consumer would be forced to bear an additional cost of Rs 2,000 annually. At the national level, this would translate into an extra burden of over Rs 50,000 crore.
However, the financial losses currently incurred through faulty meter readings, delayed or failed payments, or electricity theft are significantly lower than this projected cost. The smart meter may bring minor improvements in bill collection or slightly enhance existing digital meter readings, but from a financial perspective, this large-scale technological overhaul is neither viable nor beneficial for the people or the state DISCOMs. Moreover, upgrading meter technology does not inherently require meters to be prepaid or managed by private companies. The central government’s mandate in this regard clearly serves the interests of its corporate allies.
EXPOSING HIDDEN AGENDA
We had to find and concretely articulate our own reasons for opposing the prepaid smart metering project. This task was inseparably linked to exposing the corporate agenda behind it and highlighting the vulnerabilities it would impose on the general population. The prepaid mode of metering essentially means that the company will run its business using consumers’ money. Moreover, if the prepaid balance is exhausted – even due to a technical fault on the company’s part – the household’s electricity connection will be automatically disconnected.
This will effectively dismantle all forms of subsidies, particularly those meant for poor and agricultural consumers. The fate of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is already well known through the experience of LPG subsidies. Additionally, consumers will be forced to bear the full cost of the meter, adding a new financial burden.
The project also introduces a technical mechanism that allows private corporates to intrude into the existing network of DISCOMs through parallel licensing. Smart metering will pave the way for pushing consumers into the open electricity market and will facilitate the imposition of dynamic pricing models. Further, it will hand over vast amounts of individual and cluster-level consumption data to international market players, enabling them to manipulate demand patterns and impose high, demand-driven "Time of Day" tariffs.
State DISCOMs will become financially dependent on third-party smart metering agencies for their revenue collection. This dependence carries enormous risks, including the possibility of disastrous grid failures due to cyberattacks. Such developments threaten the sovereignty of both the people and the nation. This project is not about technological upgradation or the judicious use of central grants – it is about privatisation and corporate control.
CAMPAIGN
Our plan of action began with identifying and analysing the hidden motives behind the central government’s smart metering initiative and exposing them to electricity employees. The second, equally crucial task was to take this issue beyond the sector – to workers, farmers, small traders, and MSME entrepreneurs. This broader outreach was taken up with seriousness and commitment by the electricity employees.
Consumer-employees’ conventions were organised in every district of West Bengal, followed by mass meetings at block, gram panchayat, and ward levels. Hundreds of meetings were held with kisans, and the campaign reached out to residents’ welfare committees as well. Organisers took great care to explain both the immediate concerns and long-term implications of the project. The response was overwhelming. Even in remote villages, people came in large numbers to attentively listen and engage with what was, on the surface, a complex technical issue. Small street-corner meetings began transforming into large gatherings. People of West Bengal were getting drawn to an agenda that directly touched their lives and livelihoods.
The West Bengal government had planned to roll out prepaid smart meters in phases, with the first phase covering approximately 37 lakh households, targeted for completion by December 2023. However, assessing the scale of the resistance, the government was unable to move forward – not in 2023, nor even in 2024. It is evident that the central government has continued to exert pressure to implement the scheme.
In the face of this, employees’ unions under the banner of the Electricity Employees’ Federation of India (EEFI) submitted numerous deputations, organised protests and agitations, and repeatedly called for open discussions to explore alternative approaches. The experience of Kerala stands as a landmark example in this regard. Yet the autocratic government of West Bengal and the state’s power department remained indifferent to the employees’ concerns. Instead, the state power corporation launched a widespread media campaign extolling the supposed benefits of prepaid smart meters.
By the end of 2024, the Government of West Bengal had initiated the implementation of prepaid smart meters in certain sub-divisions. In doing so, it adopted a number of deceptive tactics – including replacing existing meters without properly informing consumers. As news of this spread, public anger erupted. People began mobilising spontaneously against what they saw as a backdoor attempt at privatisation. In many cases, the newly installed meters drastically inflated electricity bills, further fueling public outrage.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) responded immediately, organising demonstrations outside electricity supply offices. Initially, departmental executives attempted to portray prepaid metering as mandatory. However, this claim was not in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003. As protests gained momentum and the fire of agitation spread across districts, the government was forced to recognise the strength of public resistance and the widespread rejection of the project. Eventually, the West Bengal government stalled and then officially withdrew the smart metering initiative.
WHAT WE LEARNED?
First, when an issue is properly identified, studied, and systematically taken to the people, it resonates deeply. Once the masses embrace an agenda as their own, even the most authoritarian governments can be forced to reverse anti-people policies. Second, issues that directly concern people’s lives and livelihoods, particularly those related to the sphere of social reproduction, have greater potential to mobilize broader sections of the population. Struggles around electricity can naturally expand into broader campaigns for the right to energy, education, and healthcare, if planned with perspective and clarity. Third, the movement holds crucial lessons for organised trade unions in the service sector. When service sector workers unite with the consumers or beneficiaries of that service, the capacity for resistance grows exponentially. It ceases to be a narrow sectoral protest and evolves into a wider, popular struggle. Fourth, the campaign demonstrated the need to understand the complex and evolving forms of privatization – especially those with hidden technical and financial dimensions. Only a deep, concrete understanding of these processes can anchor a successful mass movement. Fifth, this struggle compels us to redefine the current phase of resistance against monopoly capital. The battle to stop corporate intrusion into public utilities lies at the very heart of today’s people’s struggles in neoliberal India.
The people of West Bengal have, through this resistance, carved out a ray of hope in otherwise bleak times. This victory not only reaffirms faith in collective struggle but also opens the door to countless future battles. Undoubtedly, it is a victory that reignites confidence in people’s movements.
