Transferring Utilities When You Move: Electricity, Water, Gas and Internet

Utilities are the part of a move that generates the most small, annoying problems — arriving to no power, or paying a bill for a flat you left two months ago. The fix is sequencing.

Electricity

Old address: apply for final reading and closure about a week before you leave. Settle the outstanding bill and get a no-dues certificate — it is what releases your security deposit, and chasing it later from another city is miserable.

New address: if the connection exists, a name transfer needs the previous occupant's details, a no-dues certificate and your ID. If there is no connection, a new one takes considerably longer — start two to three weeks ahead.

Always: photograph the meter reading on the day you hand over. It settles disputes instantly.

Water and municipal charges

Usually handled at the municipal office covering the address. In many buildings water is billed through the society rather than directly, in which case the society handles it and you deal with them. Clear municipal dues before you leave; they attach to the property and become someone's problem, often yours.

LPG gas connection

This one confuses people. The connection transfers; the cylinder does not travel with you. You surrender the cylinder and regulator at the old distributor, receive a termination voucher and your deposit, and use that voucher to get a connection at a distributor near the new address.

An LPG cylinder must not be loaded onto a goods vehicle with your household items. It is unsafe and no mover should agree to it.

Allow a week either side. Piped gas, where available, is closed at the old address and applied for separately at the new one.

Broadband

The most common mistake here is cancelling before checking. Confirm serviceability at the new address first — your provider may not serve that building, or may serve it with a different technology and different speeds.

If they do serve it, a relocation request is usually faster and cheaper than a new connection, and often keeps your existing plan. Book it for two or three days after your move date, not the day itself; installation appointments on moving day never work out.

If you work from home, arrange a mobile hotspot as a bridge. There is almost always a gap.

DTH and cable

A relocation request, not a new connection. The provider sends a technician to uninstall and reinstall. Note that the dish position at the new address may not have line of sight — worth checking before assuming.

Sequence that works

1. 3 weeks out: check broadband serviceability at the new address; apply for a new electricity connection if none exists
2. 2 weeks out: book the broadband relocation and the DTH shift; start the LPG surrender
3. 1 week out: apply for final electricity reading and closure; settle municipal dues
4. Moving day: photograph all meter readings at both addresses
5. Week after: chase the no-dues certificate and the deposit refunds — nobody sends these unprompted