All electricity customers with Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters should have been contacted by their supplier by the end of 2024, offering a smart meter upgrade at no extra cost before the RTS service ends1. The RTS uses a radio signal to tell some older electricity meters when to switch between peak and off peak rates, and was introduced in the 1980s1. The service will end on 30 June 2025, when the technology that supports RTS meters is switched off1.
Age UK states that all electricity suppliers have been contacting impacted customers to offer them a smart meter upgrade, at no extra cost, before the RTS service ends1. It adds that the supplier must make sure a suitable meter is installed and that service is not disrupted1. Customers are not obliged to accept a smart meter1.
The RTS is used for some traditional multi-rate meters and was designed to support those who use electricity for their heating and hot water1. Tariffs affected may include Economy 7, Economy 10 or Total Heat Total Control1. A separate switch box near the meter may carry a radio teleswitch label1.
"You may find that your heating and/or hot water is continually left on or off, or the charging-up happens at the wrong time of day."
Age UK also warns that the supplier will not be able to confirm how much electricity has been used during peak or off-peak times, which means electricity costs could be much higher than before1.
Why it matters for households
RTS meters depend on a broadcast radio signal to move between peak and off-peak rates, and to switch heating and hot water on and off. Once that signal stops, the meter loses the timing information that its tariff depends on. For a household on a multi-rate tariff, that affects both what the heating and hot water do and how the electricity used is priced, because the split between peak and off-peak consumption can no longer be confirmed1. The practical effect is a loss of control over when cheap-rate electricity is used, which is central to running storage heating and hot water economically. The replacement meter, where accepted, restores time-based switching and metering under the smart meter rollout and the rules on supplier obligations. Households on multi-rate tariffs may also want to understand how time-of-use tariffs work with a smart meter. Age UK's guidance on what suppliers must do before the switch-off is set out in its RTS supplier obligations page.
What happens next
The RTS service ends on 30 June 20251. Suppliers were expected to have completed contact with affected customers by the end of 20241. No further dates have been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) – Switch off, ageuk.org.uk