West Bengal: resist the Chief Secretary’s order to put smart meters in employees’ homes

On 10 June 2026 the Chief Secretary of West Bengal issued Circular No. 183/CS/2026 to departmental heads, the police and all District Magistrates. The subject is installation of smart electric meters in the residences of employees of the State Government, parastatals, State PSUs, corporations and any establishment whose salary is paid from the state exchequer.

The circular claims that RDSS makes such installation “imperative” at every such residence. WBSEDCL is first rolling out the meters in 103 high-loss customer-care circles out of 554. The meters will start as post-paid; prepaid is an option after installation. Officers are asked to “inform all employees… and extend support during installation.”

EEFI rejects that reading of RDSS. The scheme funds government offices, high-loss feeders and a phased demonstration of benefit. It does not turn a worker’s home into a pilot for prepaid metering, and it does not authorise an employer to order the swap of a working domestic meter.

A government employee is an electricity consumer like any other. Section 47(5) of the Electricity Act leaves a prepayment meter to the consumer’s request. A circular cannot create a separate class of household. Smart metering under a private vendor is part of the same privatisation drive this federation fights in every state.

Electricity employees and all state employees in West Bengal should treat the circular as an instruction to be resisted, not a law to be obeyed. Demand that WBSEDCL and the government withdraw the compulsion. A working meter stays until the consumer asks otherwise.