Karnataka mulling installation of prepaid electricity meters in govt buildings

With government buildings across the state owing close to Rs 6,000 crore electricity dues, the state government is now considering the installation of prepaid electricity meters in all government buildings.

As of date, the state government has to get Rs 5,792 crore electricity charges dues from various government buildings which have failed to pay bills on time. Having consistently suffered massive losses owing to such delays, the state government is now thinking of setting up prepaid meters in all government buildings, Energy, Kannada and Culture minister V Sunil Kumar said Thursday.

Apart from the introduction of prepaid electricity meters in government buildings, the government was also considering introducing meters in all the "AMRUT cities" and for temporary connections in a bid to generate revenue, the minister added.

The minister was responding to a query by MLA Yashwanth Gowda Patil on concerns about the privatisation of the energy sector in the state. The MLA alleged that in some cases the farmers' IP sets were also being charged in spite of them is meant to be free. In addition, farmers are worried that the government will privatise electricity distribution, he said. To this, the minister specified that there were no such plans by the government.

Meanwhile, BJP legislator Appacchu Ranjan also demanded that the government exempt coffee growers IP sets from electricity charges and consider them on par with other farmers. The government will consider the same, Sunil Kumar said.

The government is in plans of introducing an app, which will serve as 'Transformer Information Management System', where all transformers will be brought under one app, Sunil Kumar said. "This will help us track any requirement for repair. The aim is to replace faulty transformers within 24 hours," he said. The state government will also create a transformer bank, he added.

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