Prepaid meter roll-out to face regulatory hurdles

Policy panel to prepare standards, based on global experience

Power meters are to get both smart and prepaid, under a Union power ministry plan to reduce distribution losses to 15 per cent by 2019.

This needs some changes in billing format and to the Electricity Act. Some vendors have also raised questions over the specifications of tender conditions, as it doesn’t allow certain digital operations.

Government sources said a committee had been formed to ensure “the cost of prepaid meter to be Rs 1,000 per piece and below”, to make it affordable for cash-short state power distribution companies (discoms). The plan is to issue a tender for procuring one million prepaid