No meter reading for April this year

HYDERABAD: The State government will not take up electricity meter readings for the month of April in view of the Covid-19 outbreak. As a result, the consumers are asked to pay the same amount that they had paid in April last year. The amount will either be updated online or the consumers will be told what it is via SMS.

Any discrepancy in the actual utilisation of power and the amount paid will be adjusted after taking the meter reading once the lockdown is lifted. The Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued orders to this effect on Tuesday.

Earlier, the power discoms approached the ERC with a request to suspend non-essential services that require officials to meet consumers, namely for meter reading, billing, bill collection at manual bill payment counters, among others.

Accepting the proposals of the discoms, the ERC in its orders said: “We deem it appropriate to allow the request of the petitioners, as an interim measure on provisional basis during the lockdown period to ensure the compliance of the government orders and to minimise the loss on account of delay of revenue realisation.”

The Commission also directed the discoms to take meter reading in the next billing cycle immediately after the lifting of lockdown. “This is passed by the Commission as an interim measure only. The petitioners are directed to place the status of implementation immediately after lifting of the lockdown and the Commission will decide on further course of action,” the ERC said.

Secondary reading
Any discrepancy in the actual utilisation of power and the amount paid will be adjusted after taking the meter reading once the lockdown is lifted in TS