An industrial unit in Thane’s Talwar Compound reportedly remained without electricity for about 30 hours after its smart meter disconnected the supply four days after the bill due date, even though the customer paid the outstanding amount through NEFT. The Thane Small Scale Industries Association (TSSIA) has sought a written explanation from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company over the disconnection and the delay in restoring power.
According to the association, the electricity supply was automatically disconnected through the smart meter four days after the payment deadline. The customer then transferred the bill amount through NEFT and contacted the electricity distributor’s customer service centre and local office to have the connection restored.
The supply did not resume immediately after the payment, the association said. The customer was later advised to make another payment through the electricity distributor’s mobile application, prompting questions about why a second payment was required after the bill had already been settled.
After the initial attempts to secure restoration did not produce an immediate resolution, the customer approached TSSIA the following morning. The association said it contacted the executive engineer and additional executive engineer in the Thane circle and subsequently escalated the matter to the executive engineer and superintendent engineer of the Thane division.
The electricity supply was eventually restored at around 5 p.m., according to the association. TSSIA general secretary Bhavesh Maru has submitted a complaint to the chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company, seeking clarification on the incident.
The association has asked whether the customer was given prior notice before the power was disconnected, what triggered the smart meter to cut the supply automatically, why the connection was not restored after the payment was received and why the process took about 30 hours. The organisation has also questioned the operational benefit of a smart meter if a customer can remain without electricity after paying the bill.
The outage reportedly halted production at the industrial unit. Maru claimed that the interruption resulted in the loss of approximately 810 person-hours of work, caused financial losses and affected the company’s schedules for delivering goods to customers.
TSSIA has said it will not support the installation of smart meters for industries until it receives a satisfactory written explanation from the electricity distributor. The association’s complaint now awaits a response from the company on the disconnection mechanism, payment reconciliation and restoration process.
