CHANDIGARH: Power meters are the new point of friction between the Centre and Punjab. The AAP-led state government has refused to accept the Centre's directive on installing prepaid smart electricity meters in households saying the move will interfere with its plan to provide free electricity to the people.
The Union Power Ministry had earlier told the state to install the pre-paid smart meters in order to check power thefts and high transmission losses. The state loses Rs 1,200 crore per year to power thefts.
In a letter to Punjab's power secretary on March 10, Vishal Kapoor, joint secretary in Union power ministry, noted that out of 85,000 smart meters installed in the state so far under the Government of India scheme, none were in prepaid mode.
He directed that all the smart meters installed under Government of India schemes be converted into prepaid mode within three months or else the Union government would be forced to withhold funds for power reforms.
Turning down the Centre’s directive, Punjab's power minister Harbhajan Singh said the state government would install smart meters but not the pre-paid ones mandated by the Centre. Earlier, farmers in the state had threatened to start a protest if the pre-paid meters were installed.
"An ordinary meter costs between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500, while the cost of a smart prepaid meter is in the range of Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000. The government will bear the cost initially, but later it will be extracted from consumers as the Centre will reimburse only 15 per cent of the total cost," said an official.