KOLKATA, July 13 (TIWN): The West Bengal government has slammed the brakes on installing prepaid smart meters statewide, following a tidal wave of complaints from irate consumers. Residents were fed up with alleged overbilling and technical glitches that made it a nightmare to get their electricity connections back after being cut off due to low balances.

Despite the backlash, around 60,000 prepaid smart meters had already been installed in districts like North 24 Parganas, Nadia, and Purba Bardhaman. Locals resisted the rollout, claiming they were being forced to shell out higher electricity tariffs compared to conventional meters.

In a major U-turn, the state government announced that existing smart meters would be treated like regular conventional meters. Consumers can breathe a sigh of relief as they'll be able to stick to their quarterly billing cycles. The smart meters won't need to be replaced but will instead be converted into post-paid meters – and get this – the conversion can be done remotely, no door-to-door visits required