China’s Smart Gas Meters Spark Suspicions of Fraud

After the widespread replacement of smart gas meters for households by Chongqing Gas Group at the end of last year, residents found a sharp increase in their gas bills. The image shows residential buildings in Chongqing city on March 19, 2024. STR/AFP

Residents in China’s Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality say their gas utility bills skyrocketed after their existing natural gas meters were replaced with smart gas meters. Customers expressed their grievances online, sparking public outrage across multiple cities.

At the end of 2023, Chongqing Gas Group Corp Ltd upgraded a large number of households to smart gas meters. With a population exceeding 32 million, Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the central government of China. After installing the new meters, residents began reporting on the “Chongqing Online Governance Platform“ that their gas bills had begun to soar despite no change in usage patterns.