HANAMKONDA: Touted to be the first such initiative in India, the Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSNPDCL) has developed an Android application that enable consumers to take meter readings on their smartphones and receive bills instantly.
While this initiative was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic and implemented on a pilot basis throughout Hanamkonda district, the power distribution company is now planning to implement it in all districts under its jurisdiction.
TSNPDCL chairman and managing director A Gopal Rao said: “It was very useful during the Covid-19 pandemic period.”“The TSNPDCL introduced self-metering and billing in Telangana for the first time in August 2021. Since then, bills have been provided to 36 lakh consumers each month, which accounts for 84 per cent of the billing,” he added.
Explaining how the application works, Gopal Rao said non-IDRA meters have optical character recognition (OCR) technology for billing to be entered without human intervention. Through this system, the metre reading will be taken and bills will be issued to the consumers within 16 days, the shortest period of time possible, he added.
“By issuing bills on time, all consumers pay their bills and revenue collections are received on time by the TSNPDCL. Due to the absence of human intervention, there is no possibility of billing mistakes and billing accuracy will be ensured,” he explained.