Installation of prepaid electric meters approved in J&K

SRINAGAR, OCT 20: The Administrative Council headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday authorized the Electricity Distribution Corporations of Jammu and Kashmir divisions to install 8 lakh prepaid electricity meters to check theft of more than 50% of electricity.

Under the smart metering project, 6 lakh prepaid meters will be installed in J&K through RECPDCL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rural Electrification Corporation under the Ministry of Power. At present, 2 lakh smart meters are being installed in Jammu and Srinagar under the Prime Minister’s Development Program (PMDP).

The ‘Reconstructed Distribution Sector Scheme’ primarily focuses on reforms in the power sector to improve the quality and reliability of power supply to the consumers through financially and operationally efficient distribution sector.

Prepaid meters will bring transparency in metering, billing and collection which will ultimately reduce power loss and ensure quality and reliable power supply to the consumers. The meter will be read remotely through communication channels at the data center in Srinagar and the data recovery center in Jammu, which will also facilitate the distribution corporations to know the power supply status at the consumer level and take prompt action.

Relevantly, the electricity distribution sector of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has a total consumer base of about 21 lakh, of which metered consumers constitute only about 50%. Poor consumer metering is the main reason for huge AT&C losses which goes up to 50% in J&K against the national average of 22%. (PTK)