No . It was the tennant who was signed up to pay the bills and was notified of an appointment on such and such a day and the meter fitters turned up the tennant asked why they were being put on a smart meter where told that it was the landlord who decided it. so let them do it.
In that case, as I said, I don't think the landlord is in a position to do/say anything about the electrical installation. Indeed, as I said, in most such situation they very probably wouldn't even know who the landlord was.
I would therefore have thought that it would be entirely down to the 'bill payer' (i.e. the tenant) to decide whether or not he wanted the 'smart' meter (so long as anyone has a 'choice'!).
I know a few folk who have assumed, by the way they have been informed, that they must have it done.
Indeed. As you go on to say, people (at least, Brits!) have tendency to believe anything said to them by anyone seemingly 'in some position of authority'!
..... A few days later, on surrendering my licence at the police station I asked the desk sargeant why the question he said I didn`t need to actually answer that question but most folk assume they are obliged to because of the tone and circumstances in which they are asked. I retorted "Oh, next time I will just tell them I am a Zepplin Builder then!" He saw the funny side of it but said not to lie but I could refuse to give the info.
Yes, it's particularly an issue when the person 'in some position of authority' is a member of the police force - and people are then inclined to assume that they are obliged to believe anything they are told, and answer any question asked.
As I understand it (from what I've been told here), there are very few questions from a police officer that one is 'obliged' to answer - essentially those needed to establish one's identity - although one may be at risk of being arrested if one refuses to answer certain questions.
However, if one is arrested then one is 'cautioned' - and a while ago we discussed here the wording of the standard 'police caution' and the order in which things are done ... I observed that on TV I had seen someone cautioned that he was "not obliged to say or do anything, but ....", immediately after which the police officer started getting 'heavy' because the person then refused to answer the question about his name! However, I was told by someone here (who appeared to know what he was talking about) that responding to a request to identify oneself was 'one of the exceptions' to what the caution actually said! In response, I suggested that the caution probably needed to be re-worded to something like ...
"You are not obliged to say or do anything, other than the things that you are obliged to say or do ...."
Kind Regards, John