LUCKNOW, March 19 -- Angry residents stormed the Hussainganj call centre of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) on Wednesday after a mass power disconnection left them in the dark despite paying their bills. The chaos unfolded as consumers faced a critical flaw in the prepaid smart meter system, where automatic disconnections were triggered when balances dropped to zero, yet bill payments were failing to register in real time. Even as residents cleared their dues, the system required manual connection to restore supply, leaving households without power for hours, sometimes days.

The incident exposed a systemic breakdown in the transition to prepaid meters. Officials confirmed that more than 13,000 consumers across Lucknow had...