Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 29: The Jammu Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI) president, Arun Gupta has said that the sluggish pace of underground wiring and technical failures of smart meters are serious concern that are clearly taking toll on the business community and residents of Jammu.
Talking to media-persons here today, the JCCI president said when infrastructure projects stall, the costs escalates, and it creates a double, squeezing the general consumers. He said the slow progress of underground cabling is a major technical hurdle. Without a stabilized underground network, smart meters are frequently exposed to the high voltage fluctuation, common in overhead lines, he said.
Gupta said the frequent voltage spikes are physically damaging the internal circuit of the new smart meters, leading to malfunctions or burnouts. There are widespread reports of erratic hopping in unit consumption. Consumers often find that even with reduced usage, the digital readings jump disproportionately, leading to bills that feel disconnected from reality.
Many are seeing bills jump from monthly fixed rates to more than the usage based bills both exceeding upto double the amount which is a massive shock to households and small traders.
Gupta further said that hundreds of smart meters have been damaged and are non-functional due to which the concerned consumers are being charged flat rates.
He demanded that the company responsible for installing and maintenance of smart meters should be asked to immediately replace all the non-functional and faulty smart meters so that the consumers are relieved of paying the excess bills.
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