Power ministry mandates use of smart prepaid meters from April 2019

NEW DELHI: The government has mandated the use of smart prepaid electricity meters in the country beginning April next year, as it looks to complete the transition over the next three years.

“This step is likely to bring revolution in power sector by way of reduction in AT&C losses, better health of DISCOMs, incentivising energy conservation, ease of bill payments and doing away with the paper bills,” ministry of power said in a statement on Monday.

Power minister R.K Singh has, in the past, made a strong pitch for smart and pre-paid metering as a means of making state utilities more efficient and bringing down their losses.

Smart meters are a part of the overall advanced metering infrastructureNSE 0.00 % solutions (AMI) aimed at better demand response designed to reduce energy consumption during peak hours.

“Move towards smart meters is a pro poor step as consumers need not pay the whole month's bill in one go. Instead they can pay as per their requirements,” the statement added.

Singh in June this year had asked meter manufacturers to ramp up production of smart prepaid meters, as the increase in number of consumers being added to the electricity grid will ensure a steady demand.

“Manufacturing of smart prepaid meters will also generate skilled employment for the youth,” the statement added.

The government is procuring smart and prepaid meters to be deployed across the country. State-owned Energy Efficiency ServicesNSE -0.34 % Limited (EESL) has floated two global tenders for procuring a total of 10 million smart meters.

The government also plans to install 10 million prepaid meters in Uttar Pradesh as part of the Saubhagya scheme which aims to electrif ..