THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSEB is all set to slap an additional burden on consumers with its decision to switch to prepaid smart meters. About 1.3 crore consumers in Kerala will have to shell out at least Rs 7,000 each to install smart meters as the exisiting devices will become obsolete by March 2025. The move will also render meter readers jobless.
Since power theft in Kerala is negligible, the state will not gain any additional revenue out of the prepaid smart meter project, a senior KSEB official told TNIE. “Consumers will have to pay a heavy price for setting up the meter as the Right to Consumer Act makes it mandatory to change the existing one. With the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission also having changed the metering regulation, the 1.3 crore consumers have no other way,” the official said.
The price of a smart meter for single phase power connection starts from Rs 3,000 and for three-phase power connection from Rs 4,200. By the time the new meter is connected with data and server, the consumer will have to spend at least Rs 7,000, KSEB officials say.
Project cost Rs 8,200 cr, 15% Centre’s grant
A top KSEB official said the board has appointed Rural Electrification Corporation Power Distribution Company Limited (RECPDCL) as the project implementation agency. “The MoU has already been signed. The guidelines by the Centre stipulates that government agencies should be given first preference in setting up smart metres as many of them owe thousands of crores to the board,” said the official.
The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 8,200 crore and 15% of it will be grant from the Union government, the official said. Implementation of the project will put the role of meter readers and senior assistants who enter the data in the system at risk.