{"id":12403,"date":"2025-07-16T15:17:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T15:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/?p=12403"},"modified":"2025-07-16T15:17:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T15:17:26","slug":"strict-action-in-smart-meter-fraud-statewide-probe-ordered-by-power-minister-ratan-lal-nath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/strict-action-in-smart-meter-fraud-statewide-probe-ordered-by-power-minister-ratan-lal-nath\/","title":{"rendered":"Strict Action in Smart Meter Fraud: Statewide Probe Ordered by Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Agartala, July 16:<\/strong>\u00a0In a strong move against fraudulent electricity billing practices, Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) <\/a><\/strong>has launched a full-scale investigation into allegations of manipulation involving smart meters. State Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath has made it clear no one found guilty will be spared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the media on Wednesday, the minister informed that a significant number of smart meters have been installed across the state\u2014from December 2024 to July 2025, a total of 89,632<\/strong> meters were fitted. He shared that 43,611 bills were generated in April<\/strong>, 58,048 in May<\/strong>, 73,593 in June<\/strong>, and 79,653 bills so far in July<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes amid rising complaints from consumers regarding billing irregularities post smart meter installation. One such case was reported from Lalchhara in Khowai district, where a resident, Ashok Kanti Das Roy, claimed he received an electricity bill of \u20b982,000 after installation of a smart meter. TSECL\u2019s investigation revealed that although the smart meter was installed on June 25, his old meter was still active, and with the help of a meter reader, he had allegedly been submitting false readings for years. The \u20b982,000 bill was a result of accumulated dues based on actual consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister stated that this case clearly points to collusion between the meter reader and the consumer, leading to revenue loss. Consequently, a show-cause notice<\/strong> has been issued to M\/s TDS Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.<\/strong>, the company responsible for meter readings, on charges of breach of contract and negligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A special task force<\/strong> has been formed to probe the matter thoroughly. The team includes four senior officials\u2014Shishir Debbarma (DGM), Rajib Kumar Roy (DGM), Sanjeeb Nandi Majumdar (Senior Manager), and Jahar Debbarma (Senior Manager).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To facilitate grievance redressal, two dedicated WhatsApp numbers\u20146033131966<\/strong> and 6909981274<\/strong>\u2014have been launched where only smart meter-related complaints will be accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Nath warned that similar scams could be occurring in other parts of the state as well. Therefore, a statewide investigation into smart meter billing frauds<\/strong> has been initiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issuing a stern warning, he added, \u201cThose found guilty\u2014whether consumers, meter readers, or company officials\u2014will not be spared. Legal action will be taken as per the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE: Royal Scion Pradyot Manikya Exposes Land Scam: Bangladeshi National Illegally Allotted Land in Tripura\u2019s ADC Area<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Agartala, July 16:\u00a0In a strong move against fraudulent electricity billing practices, Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) has launched a full-scale investigation into allegations of manipulation involving smart meters. State Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath has made it clear no one found guilty will be spared. Addressing the media on Wednesday, the minister informed that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":12404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[2142,2141,63],"ppma_author":[1174],"class_list":{"0":"post-12403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tripura","8":"tag-rtan-lal-natha","9":"tag-strict-action-in-smart-meter-fraud","10":"tag-tripura"},"authors":[{"term_id":1174,"user_id":33,"is_guest":0,"slug":"kamaljamatia","display_name":"kamal jamatia","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/564a074770eb17d36f3af441d462b8a2a809599748f74220740b1d3b52879fcf?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Faguli.in%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2FPHOTO-2023-09-14-08-30-32-3.jpg&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12405,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12403\/revisions\/12405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12403"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aguli.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=12403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}