Samajwadi Party workers held a protest against smart and prepaid electricity meters in Lucknow last week. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

In a major climbdown amid mounting public protests against its decision, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced to discontinue the prepaid electricity meter system in the state, saying all smart meters will now function as postpaid connections.

In a post on X, Energy Minister A.K. Sharma outlined a series of relief measures for electricity consumers, saying, “The consumer is God…In view of the technical difficulties arising for electricity consumers from smart/prepaid meters, an important decision has been taken today to provide them significant relief.”

All smart meters will function like “normal/postpaid meters”, he said.

Sharing details of the new framework, Sharma said monthly billing will resume as earlier, with bills for the 1st to 30th of each month to be sent via SMS or WhatsApp within 10 days.

Consumers have been asked to pay within the…