Prepaid power meters in govt offices soon

OUT OF THE BOX IDEA

New system to come into vogue from April 1 to plug power theft

• Cost of the meters to be paid by the departments in three instalments
• Govt departments told to clear all the dues by March 31

Hyderabad: To avoid mounting power dues from various government departments, the Telangana government has decided to install prepaid electricity meters in all the departments from new financial year beginning from April 1. All the departments have been informed that the TS Southern Power Discom Ltd (TSSPDL) and TSNPDCL will install prepaid meters in all offices.

The cost of the meters will be borne by the departments in three instalments. The Discoms will work out mechanism for enabling recharge of the meters including online payment. This will also help to bring in internal mechanism by all government departments towards energy usage discipline and conservation.

The officials of the Energy department said that the TSSPDCL was facing revenue deficit of nearly Rs 6,000 crore while in case of NPDCL it was Rs 7,000 crore on account of increased cost of power purchase, mounting establishment charges and the supply of subsidised power to the agriculture and domestic sectors.

Once power supply to the government offices is streamlined, the utilities will get relief from the evasion of tariff payments, officials said. The power utilities have also set March 31as deadline for all the government departments including local bodies to clear power dues pending to the tune of Rs 1,923 crore. Of this Rs 1,450 crore has to come from local bodies and panchayats.

All departments are directed to clear the outstanding CC (Current Consumption) charges dues to the utilities by March 31 and the DPS ( Delayed Payment Surcharge) on all such charges will be waived off subject to the approval by the TS Electricity Regulatory Commission”, the official of the state Energy department said.