OTS upgrade in Uttar Pradesh: 14-hour shutdown to halt bill payments and meter recharges

UP Power Shutdown Alert: Important information has been issued for lakhs of electricity consumers in Uttar Pradesh. UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has decided to shut down consumer services across the state for 14 hours.

This decision has been taken due to the technical update of the new electricity bill relief scheme 2024–25 (One Time Settlement-OTS) being implemented by the Power Corporation.

During this period, consumers will neither be able to pay electricity bills online nor recharge their prepaid meters. Not only this, no consumer-related work will be done in the electricity offices either. This order was issued by Superintending Engineer (IT) Arvind Singh on Friday. The order clarified that due to technical requirements and software upgradation, services related to electricity consumers will be temporarily disrupted across the state.

How long will services be down

• As per the issued instructions:
• From November 29, 10 PM
• Until November 30, 12 PM

Meaning, consumer services will not be available across the state for a total of 14 hours. During this period, the same system will be applicable in all districts of the state, from Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Noida, Gorakhpur to rural areas.

Why services will be halted

UP Power Corporation is updating its Revenue Management System (RMS). The new rules and guidelines of the recently announced electricity bill relief scheme (OTS 2024–25) will be fed into the system during this update. Superintending Engineer Arvind Singh stated that necessary technical changes are being made to the RMS system to implement the new relief scheme smoothly and without errors. For this, both online and offline systems are being temporarily shut down.

What is the OTS scheme

The One Time Settlement (OTS) electricity bill relief scheme being introduced by the state government is for those consumers whose electricity bills are long overdue.

• Under this scheme:
• Consumers can get significant relief on interest
• Waiver of surcharge in many cases
• Facility to pay outstanding dues in easy installments

The administration wants the billing data and payment system of all consumers to be fully updated before the launch of OTS, so that there are no technical obstacles in providing benefits.

Which services will be affected

The following tasks will not be possible in electricity consumer services for 14 hours:

1. Online services will be down

• Electricity bill payment
• Payment via digital payment wallets/UPI
• Online complaint registration
• Online electricity connection related applications
• Consumer login portal

2. Prepaid meter recharge also stopped

• Consumers with prepaid and smart meters during this period:
• Recharge
• Token download
• Recharge via mobile app
• Will not be able to do.

The Corporation has urged such consumers to recharge their meters before 10 PM on November 29, to avoid problems like power outages.

3. Work will also not be done in electricity offices

• Duplicate bills will not be issued
• Consumer complaints will not be resolved
• Work such as bill correction, reading update, name change, etc., will also be stopped

Consumers should recharge and pay on time

The Power Corporation has already warned consumers to complete their bill payments and meter recharges in time to avoid inconvenience. This is especially important for prepaid consumers, as not recharging during the system shutdown could lead to the meter stopping power supply.

Widespread impact across the state, including Lucknow

Since this is a technical upgrade of the entire RMS system, its impact will not be limited to Lucknow alone. Affected will be domestic consumers, commercial consumers, industrial areas, and Gram Panchayats. Services will be simultaneously shut down in all these places, including the capital, as well as Kanpur, Agra, Meerut, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Bareilly, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, etc.

Why is technical upgradation necessary

UPPCL is rapidly making technical changes to promote smart metering and digital payments in the state. In the last few years:

• The number of smart meters has reached lakhs
• Consumers are rapidly adopting digital payments
• All billing and payment processes have become fully automated through the RMS system

Due to the new OTS scheme, changes in the outstanding amount and surcharge for lakhs of consumers will have to be recorded. For this, it is mandatory to update the RMS system according to the new guidelines.

Services to be restored by 12 PM on November 30

The Corporation claims that all system upgrades will be completed by the scheduled time, 12 PM on November 30. After this, consumers will be able to use their services normally. However, due to technical work, there may sometimes be a slight increase in time, but the Power Corporation has assured that the technical team will be deployed overnight to minimize inconvenience to consumers.

Appeal to consumers

• UPPCL has made a special appeal to consumers to:
• Pay bills as soon as possible
• Keep prepaid meters recharged in advance
• Do not initiate any online or offline process during the 14-hour period
• In case of any technical error, try again after service restoration