BENGALURU: With the switching over from manual meter reading devices to optical port probe devices, the energy department has advised consumers to ensure that the meters are located at a height of 5 feet in easily accessible locations.
A senior energy department official said that new devices were introduced during August-September. These are connected to the spot billing meters using a cable. The meter reader then enters the meter’s RR Number and all the details of power consumption are automatically generated.
“During the pilot and after its introduction, the readers pointed out that many consumers had put up their meters at a height or in places where accessibility was difficult and the cables could not connected to reader or the meters were very far. So specific height and locations have been detailed for accurate readings,” the official said.
With the old hand-held devices, the staffer would spend half-an-hour to read 10 meters, now the same number can be read and bills issued within 10 minutes. “The consumer will have to bear the cost of changing the meters location, the department will only provide the assistance in choosing the location and ensuring there are no errors while installation. This exercise will ensure there are zero errors in taking readings and generating bills. Work is also being done to change all manual meters to digital meters. The number is less, but they continue to operate,” the official added.
Helpline
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (BESCOM) has requested all farmers and consumers to call its helpline 1912 or Send WhatsApp messages for power-related issues. “General public and farmers facing issues of transformer failures in their fields or other electricity-related problems are requested to call the 1912 helpline to register their complaints. If the 1912 helpline is unavailable, complaint message can be send through WhatsApp Number of your area helpline numbers specific to their district area,” a release here said.
BESCOM has four WhatsApp helpline numbers for Bengaluru Urban District and one WhatsApp helpline number for each of the Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, and Kolar districts.
