Pre-paid power for some City areas

Pre-paid power for some City areas
Deccan Herald

After a long delay, the pre-paid power supply system (PPSS) will now be operational in Additional South and Additional East areas of the city.

According to sources, the PPSS, optional for consumers, will be launched in about 10 days. Bescom is learnt to have provided all the necessary clearances for this project which was to have been kicked off in September.

Bescom gave a Letter of Acceptance to private operator Secure Meters Limited (SML) in September itself for implementing the PPSS in the City.


SML Assistant General Manager V Rajaram told Deccan Herald that, to begin with, the new supply system would be taken up in the aforementioned areas. It would be extended to other areas in a phased manner.

Under PPSS, which would be similar to the prepaid cell phone services, consumers have to pay in advance for the power supply depending on their requirement.

But, the PPSS would follow the key-pad method of recharging. Consumers will be given a 20-digit number which has to be entered in their meters which will have key-pads.

For the recharge, consumers can visit the recharge booths (RBs) and get the relevant code of any denomination, paying the cash.

They can even send SMS or call up the RB to get the code and transfer the required money through internet banking, debit/credit cards or through Electronic Clearing System.

Consumers have to install a different meter if they want PPSS. Those meters will have a display unit that can be installed at any location convenient to consumers. Apart from indicating the consumption and credit (number of unused units left), the meters provide details on units consumed on any particular day, week, month and the average daily consumption for the last six months -- data that are believed to be helpful in promoting energy conservation among households.

Bescom is learnt to have decided to experiment with the PPSS for temporary power connections. For this purpose, it has agreed to procure about 150 pre-paid meters from the SML for the Additional South areas alone.

Officials feel PPSS mitigates the financial risks as the power utility gets paid for its service in advance unlike in the present system where it gets payment only after 30-45 days of supply. According to Mr Rajaram, with the system has already receiving a positive response from various builders, “we expect to sell about 5,000 meters in the first year itself”.

Only hitch

The only hitch: pre-paid meters are costly. While a post-paid meter costs about Rs 1,000, the pre-paid ones cost Rs 4,600. But, says Mr Rajaram, the final difference in the cost would reduce to about Rs 600 as there is no need to pay security deposit for the new system.

Even this difference could be made up through conservation in about six months, he claims. The only states to have implemented PPSS are Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.

CHOSEN FEW

Additional South: Austin Town, Koramangala, Bommanahalli, HAL, Marathahalli, Agara, Talaghattapura, Kaggalipura, Somanahalli and others.

Additional East: Tannery Road, Benson Layout, Shivajinagar, Bharati Nagar, Commercial Street, Infantry Road, Lazer Road, Lingarajapuram, Cox Town, HRBR Layout, HBR Layout, Banasvadi, Nagawara, Hennur, Horamavu & others.