Impact of PSPCL employees’ strike; Consumers in Ludhiana received ‘N-Code’ electricity bills

June 24, 2026

The ongoing strike by outsourced employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has begun to impact the electricity billing system. Due to disruptions in routine meter reading and spot billing activities during the May-June billing cycle, provisional electricity bills have been issued to lakhs of consumers across Punjab, including Ludhiana.

According to PSPCL data, over 10.5 lakh consumers across the state have been issued ‘N-Code’ bills. Of these, bills for 959,085 consumers were prepared on an estimated basis because actual consumption data was unavailable.

Meanwhile, 92,643 smart meter consumers received N-Code bills due to data synchronization and connectivity issues. In Ludhiana, electricity is supplied to approximately nine lakh consumers through nine power divisions.

Understand the ‘N-Code’ bill 

According to PSPCL officials, an N-Code bill is not a final bill but a provisional or estimated one. It is issued when actual electricity consumption data is unavailable or fails to reach the billing system.

Officials stated that in such cases, the bill is prepared based on the consumer’s past consumption. For instance, the bill for June 2026 was generated by considering consumption from the same period last year. Bills for May were also issued based on past records.

Smart meter consumers also affected

Smart meters typically transmit readings directly to a central server; however, issues with data synchronization and network connectivity in several locations necessitated the issuance of N-Code bills to smart meter consumers as well. Officials clarified that consumer accounts would be reconciled as soon as actual readings become available.

If a consumer has paid an excess amount based on the estimated bill, it will be adjusted in the next billing cycle. Conversely, if actual consumption is higher, the difference will be added to future bills. Bills exceeding ₹5,000 for 1.55 lakh consumers

According to billing data, provisional bills exceeding ₹5,000 have been issued to 155,243 consumers in Punjab, while 112,477 consumers have received bills ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000. In the smart meter category, ‘N-Code’ bills exceeding ₹5,000 have been issued to 27,617 consumers, and bills ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 have been issued to 12,111 consumers.