Prepaid smart meter installation from October
2 min readPatna: Smart prepaid electricity meters will be installed in the state from October.
The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has been given the task of replacing around 18 lakh electricity meters in 130 towns and adjacent areas of the state. North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited signed an agreement with the EESL to start the prepaid meter installing process.
An official with the EESL said: “We would soon float tenders to select vendors who would execute the installation work. The process would take two months after which the actual work would start.”
The EESL official said going by the likely time to be consumed in the bidding process, the work was expected to commence in October.
“We would take 18 months in installing the prepaid meters at the consumers’ end,” he said. The official said the EESL has floated the tender to procure around 50 lakh smart prepaid meters at the national-level because the company had to execute the work in more than one state.
“As the meter procurement work is being done parallel to the installation, work would commence as soon as we finalise the vendor selection work for installation of meters,” added the official.
The smart prepaid meters are expected to benefit both consumers and the distribution companies. While this would give consumers liberty to plan their power consumption as per their pockets, the distribution companies would be free from generating bills and revenue collections.
The meters would allow consumers to recharge their meter as per the amount of their choice and they would also get alerts on the money left in their accounts. The meter would allow recharging through a mobile app or online.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
