India’s Smart Meter Deployment Touches 5.28 Crore Under RDSS

India has installed 5.28 crore smart meters nationwide under various schemes, including the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), as of December 31, 2025.

The information was provided by Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. As per official data, under RDSS, smart metering projects have been sanctioned for 45 distribution utilities in 28 States and Union Territories, covering 19.79 crore consumer meters, 52.53 lakh distribution transformer meters and 2.05 lakh feeder meters. Of these, 3.90 crore smart meters have been installed under the scheme so far.

The government said  that prepaid smart meters are helping improve the financial health of power distribution companies (DISCOMs) by enabling advance revenue collection and reducing working capital requirements. As a result of reforms including smart metering, aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses declined from 21.91 percent in FY21 to 15.04 percent in FY25.

Consumers are also gaining access to near real-time electricity consumption data through mobile applications, along with recharge facilities and low-balance alerts. A survey by nodal agencies REC Ltd and PFC Ltd found that among 1.24 lakh users who downloaded the app, over 54,000 were aware of real-time consumption tracking and 72,000 used it for bill payment and recharge.

To address cyber risks, the Standard Bidding Document for RDSS includes provisions on data security, cloud protection and compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. The government has also set up CSIRT-Power to support utilities in handling cyber incidents.

Consumer awareness drives, including pamphlets, banners, audio jingles, workshops and social media campaigns, are being conducted to boost acceptance of prepaid smart meters.