Sri Vijaya Puram, August 13: High electricity bills are becoming a growing concern across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with several residents complaining that their monthly power bills have risen sharply following the installation of smart meters, even as hotels, resorts and other commercial establishments grapple with electricity tariffs going up to ₹22.50 per unit.
The complaints have brought electricity costs into focus across the Islands, with households questioning unexpectedly high monthly bills and businesses arguing that steep power charges are adding to the already high cost of operating in an island economy.
Several Islanders have complained that their monthly electricity bills have become exorbitantly high after conventional meters were replaced with smart meters. Some consumers have questioned why their recorded consumption or amount payable has increased significantly despite, according to them, no corresponding increase in electricity usage.
There is, however, no evidence at this stage to establish that smart meters themselves are responsible for the higher bills being reported. An increase in a bill after replacement of a meter does not by itself establish that the meter is defective. Consumption patterns, tariff slabs, fixed charges, billing adjustments and more accurate measurement can also influence the final amount payable.
The complaints nevertheless assume significance given the scale of the smart-meter rollout in the Islands.
According to the Union Ministry of Power, 75,200 smart meters had been installed in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as of November 15, 2025.
Most of the existing smart-meter base was installed through state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of public sector undertakings under the Ministry of Power.
Official EESL data shows that the company had installed 74,961 smart meters in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as of November 28, 2024. Earlier EESL records show that the company had an agreement with the Electricity Department of Andaman and Nicobar Islands for deployment of 76,000 meters.
EESL is therefore the implementing agency behind the overwhelming majority of smart meters currently installed in the Islands. Publicly available records reviewed for this report, however, do not conclusively establish the manufacturer or manufacturers of all the physical meters installed through the programme.
That distinction becomes important when consumers raise questions about meter readings. Disclosure by the Electricity Department of the make and manufacturer of meters, their accuracy specifications and certification, and the process through which a disputed meter can be tested could help address consumer concerns.
Separately, a new smart-metering programme has been sanctioned for the Islands under the Centre’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).
Under the programme, 83,573 consumer smart meters, 1,148 distribution transformer meters and 114 feeder meters have been sanctioned for Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The sanctioned cost of smart-metering works for the Islands is around ₹54 crore.
Importantly, this programme is separate from the existing EESL-led smart-meter rollout.
Ministry of Power data available up to February 2026 showed that none of the 83,573 consumer meters sanctioned under the RDSS package had been recorded as installed.
The distinction is significant because complaints currently being raised by Islanders concern the existing installed smart-meter base rather than meters proposed under the RDSS rollout.
Complaints Across India
Complaints about unexpectedly high electricity bills following smart-meter installations are not unique to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Similar grievances have surfaced in several parts of the country.
In Maharashtra, consumers in Pune and the Kalyan-Dombivli region have complained about steep increases in electricity bills following the installation of smart meters. The issue has also reached the Maharashtra legislature, where thousands of complaints from Pune consumers were cited, although the state government has cautioned against automatically attributing higher bills to smart meters.
In one case reported from Pune, the electricity bill for common facilities at a housing society reportedly increased from less than ₹1,200 to around ₹29,000 after installation of a Time-of-Day smart meter. The meter was subsequently tested and found to be functioning, while officials acknowledged a mismatch in charges and rectified the bill.
Uttar Pradesh has also witnessed consumer concerns surrounding smart prepaid meters. In May 2026, the state government decided to move smart-meter consumers from prepaid to postpaid billing amid complaints and temporarily suspended replacement of old meters with smart prepaid meters.
Tripura has similarly constituted a task force to address complaints surrounding smart meters, including allegations of overbilling and technical problems.
These complaints do not establish that smart meters systematically record excessive consumption. Smart meters are intended to improve the accuracy and timeliness of readings and give both consumers and utilities greater visibility over electricity usage. But where consumers report substantial changes following meter replacement, transparent verification of readings and bills becomes important.
The issue assumes greater significance in Andaman and Nicobar because electricity itself is expensive for many commercial users.
The Electricity Department’s tariff structure shows that consumers under Non-Domestic Service-II are charged ₹13.50 per unit for the first 100 units, ₹16.50 per unit for consumption between 101 and 200 units and ₹22.50 per unit from 201 units onwards. Non-Domestic Service-IV carries a tariff of ₹22.50 per unit across consumption slabs.
The tariffs have prompted demands for a review from sections of the hospitality and business community.
Electricity represents a major recurring expense for hotels and resorts, which require power for air-conditioning, guest rooms, kitchens, refrigeration, laundry operations, water pumps, lighting and other facilities.
The impact, however, is not restricted to tourism. Restaurants, retail establishments, offices, workshops, healthcare establishments, warehouses, cold-storage facilities and small manufacturing units all depend on electricity as a basic operating input.
Businesses in the Islands already face structural disadvantages because a substantial proportion of food products, machinery, equipment, construction materials and other inputs have to be transported from mainland India. Freight, handling and inventory costs add to operating expenses before electricity and other utility bills are taken into account.
Commercial water tariffs have emerged as another concern. A recent representation seeking tariff relief cited commercial water charges of around ₹168 per kilolitre. An official publicly accessible tariff schedule independently confirming that rate could not be located.
For businesses operating on relatively thin margins, high electricity bills leave limited choices. They can absorb the expenditure and accept lower profitability, reduce costs elsewhere or pass at least part of the burden on to consumers through higher prices.
Persistently high power costs could therefore have implications beyond individual businesses, potentially increasing the price of goods and services, weakening the competitiveness of local enterprises and influencing decisions by entrepreneurs considering fresh investments in the Islands.
There is another side to the tariff debate. Generating and distributing electricity across a geographically dispersed island territory is inherently expensive, and any demand for lower tariffs has to be considered against the cost of supplying power.
For households, however, the immediate question is more straightforward: why are some consumers reporting substantially higher bills after the installation of smart meters?
The Electricity Department could address these concerns by allowing consumers reporting unusually high bills to compare historical consumption with smart-meter data, providing a clear breakup of energy charges, fixed charges and adjustments, and facilitating meter testing where readings are disputed.
Publishing details of the manufacturer, model, accuracy class and certification of meters installed through the EESL programme could provide additional transparency. In disputed cases, the use of check meters to compare consumption over a specified period could also help determine whether there is any discrepancy.
With 75,200 smart meters already installed across the Islands and another 83,573 consumer meters separately sanctioned under RDSS, addressing consumer concerns assumes greater importance as the smart-metering programme expands.
The electricity debate in Andaman and Nicobar has consequently developed into two related issues: complaints from households that their monthly bills have risen sharply following the introduction of smart meters, and concerns from businesses that high electricity tariffs are adding significantly to the cost of doing business in the Islands.
Both issues make a case for greater transparency over meter readings, billing and tariffs as the Islands move towards a wider smart-metering network.
