Electricity meters to be smart prepaid in 3 yrs: R K Singh

All electricity meters in the country will be converted to smart prepaid meters in the next three years, said Union Power Minister R K Singh, here.

"In the next 3 years, metering will go smart... and gone will be the days of bills reaching your house. So need of the hour is to scale up the manufacturing of smart prepaid meters and to bring down their prices," Singh said while addressing a meeting with meter manufacturers.

The minister advised them to scale up the manufacturing of smart prepaid meters as the demand would go up in the coming years.

This will revolutionise the power sector by way of reduced AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial) losses, better health of discoms, incentivisation of energy conservation and ease of bill payments, said the minister.

Further, it will generate employment for skilled youth, a statement from the ministry said.

The Ministry of Power recently issued a draft amendment to the electricity tariff act in which it proposed smart meters and prepaid billing system.

This will be done to prevent pilferage of electricity and prevent human interference in billing.