HYDERABAD: The Telangana government proposes to introduce rechargeable prepaid electricity meters in the state soon to regulate energy consumption.
Before introducing prepaid electricity meters to domestic, commercial and industrial customers to prevent misuse and theft of power, it will be introduced in about 60,000 government offices in the first phase.
On a pilot basis, the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana (TSSPDCL) has installed 100 rechargeable prepaid electricity meters in some government schools, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) offices, parks and a few other government offices.
The prepaid meters would also control overload problem in the city. They will be for single and three phase meters. A single phase pre-paid meter will cost around Rs 9,500 while a three phase pre-paid meter will cost around Rs 12,000.
TSSPDCL officials told Express that the government has decided to adopt the same to regulate energy consumption in government offices and to prevent theft and power misuse by private consumers. An order was also issued by the government early this year. The government is purchasing power at Rs 6 per unit.
The Centre has directed state governments to follow this system to bring down technical and commercial losses. If the state government provides Rs 100 crore, the TS discoms will fix smart meters to all government departments.
The smart meters will enable consumers to track their actual consumption without manually reading the meter. TS Discoms can track actual consumption of consumers through their online subscriptions.