LUCKNOW: Giving relief to UP power employees from mandatory biometric attendance, the Allahabad High Court said that if state power department staff faced internet issues in marking attendance through the biometric system, they could approach the authorities concerned or submit proof of having attended duties, and receive salaries if their grievances were found genuine.
Hearing a plea by Satyanarayan Upadhyay and nine others, Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery passed the order.
The petitioners were informed on July 3 that if they did not mark attendance for June on the biometric system via the Urja Janshakti App, their salaries would be stopped.
The court noted, “Grievance of petitioners being vague is unsustainable since they never approached the respondents concerned during June 2025 to report that internet problems were preventing them from marking biometric attendance.”
It said that if the petitioners could show they had worked in June, their salaries, if stopped, should be released. However, the order clarified that this would not mean they were exempted from using the biometric attendance app.
Petitioners’ counsel argued that his clients had not marked attendance for June on the app and could have faced internet issues as they usually worked in the field.
The respondents’ counsel said the biometric system was enforced through a notification dated September 23, 2024, which was not under challenge, and none of the petitioners had reported any internet problem.
The court stated that if the internet connectivity grievance was genuine, petitioners could individually approach the concerned authorities or submit proof of duty attendance at the relevant power station, which would be verified by a senior officer.