Consumers will not receive paper or electronic bills and instead will have to ensure there is adequate balance to keep their home or commercial establishment lit up
In the next three years, all your electricity meters will change from postpaid to prepaid, akin to your television set-top box or prepaid mobile connection.
Once this happens, you will not be receiving paper or electronic bills any more that asks you to pay by the 'due date'. Instead, you will have to ensure there is adequate balance to keep your home or commercial establishment lit up.
"In next three years metering will go smart prepaid, and gone will be the days of bills reaching your house. So need of the hour is to scale up manufacturing of smart prepaid meters and to bring down their prices," said R K Singh, Minister of State (In-Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy.
He made this statement while addressing a meeting of meter manufacturers called by the Ministry of Power.
According to him, this will revolutionise the power sector by way of reduced Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses, improve the financial health of power distribution companies (discoms), incentivisation of energy conservation and 'ease of bill payments', etc.
Among the ideas behind getting the new-age prepaid meters is to reduce distribution losses to 15% by 2019.
"The meeting discussed various aspects of smart meters e.g. BIS certification, compatibility with radio frequency or General Packet Radio Services, harmonisation with existing digital infrastructure, etc. It was also agreed that all technical aspects will be further deliberated into in consultation with meter manufacturers, discoms and system integrators," read a statement by Ministry of Power.
Though the move is expected to generate skilled employment for the youth, it may also result in possible job losses for those who have been associated with meter reading, bill generation and bill distribution.
Already state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) is into supplying of smart pre-paid meters. In the next few days, Bihar State Power Holding Company will sign an agreement with EESL to procure and install these meters for 20 lakh connections in the cities of Patna, Ara, Sasaram, Purnea, Begusarai, among other cities.
Similarly, last year, Goa Electricity Department had announced that it will install around 80,000 smart prepaid meters in the areas of Panaji, Taliegao, Corlim and Bambolim.
Payment for smart prepaid electricity meters can be done online as well as offline, which is similar to your mobile recharge or set-top box payment. During summers, an individual will have to ensure to recharge the meters with an additional amount to match with the extra power consumption.
In the last couple of years, change of electricity meters has happened from the earlier dial meter to the present digital electricity meters with now plans to introduce new-age smart prepaid meters in next few years.
SMART MOVE?
- Consumers will not receive paper or electronic bills and instead will have to ensure there is adequate balance to keep their home or commercial establishment lit up
- Move is expected to generate skilled employment for the youth, but may also result in possible job losses associated with meter reading, bill generation and bill distribution
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