Guwahati: Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has said that it will conduct a cyber security audit every six months to ensure that smart meters and app data are not compromised by hackers.

Speaking with Business North East an APDCL official said, " To verify that the smart meter devices and app behave correctly, a cyber security audit will be performed every six months. The concerns raised by two techies of malfunctioning have been fixed”.

A senior official of the APDCL reaffirmed that precautions had been taken to protect consumer security and that consumers had been made aware of the fake phone calls and texts.

He however added that APDCL do not address front-end issues. It was handled by the suppliers.

This comes after two tech experts from Bongaigaon raised concerns about the vulnerability of smart meters to fraudulent activities.

The experts claimed that hackers could exploit the smart meters' connection to the energy use grid, potentially allowing them to steal energy or even shut down the entire state's energy supply.

The APDCL has stated that the concerns raised by the tech experts have been addressed, and that measures have been taken to protect consumer security.

The government has also sanctioned Rs. 100 crore for smart meter maintenance, and the APDCL plans to install an additional 50 lakh smart meters in rural areas under the RDSS scheme, which is expected to be completed by 2025.

As per the recent data, the APDCL had installed over 5.79 lakh smart metres. Next 50 lakhs will be installed under RDSS scheme which will cover the rural parts of Assam. The project is expected to completed by 2025.

Till now urban areas of Assam- Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon, Tezpur were covered in first phase.

For the next phase, rural areas of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Nalbari and other areas will be covered. The project is expected to be completed by 2025, with a total of nine vendors involved in the installation process. The total project cost is of  Rs 3,700 crores.

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