STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Amid ongoing protests by consumers over the installation of smart meters, Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (JPDCL) on Saturday dispelled fears of overcharging by the power supplier and sought the cooperation of the people in completing the project.
Chief Engineer (Distribution), JPDCL Sandeep Seth dismissed overcharging through smart meters as propaganda to mislead the public.
“People have a lot of doubts and reservations over the installation of smart meters which needs to be dispelled. The smart meters are for the benefit of the public as these are highly accurate and require no human intervention (for its reading and billing),” Seth told reporters here.
Jammu has been witnessing protests by locals almost on a daily basis in different localities against the installation of smart meters. Almost all opposition parties, including Congress, National Conference, PDP, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), National Panthers Party (NPP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), extended their support to the protesting people and also organized several protests in the city over the past two weeks.
“Anyone having any doubt has to simply submit an application to the department and we will use check meters to clear their doubts. Besides the toll-free numbers to register a complaint, all subdivisions have three days a week Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to address the public grievances between 11 am to 1 pm,” the chief engineer said.
Defending the replacement of digital meters with smart meters, he said the metering programme is a component of a revamped distribution sector scheme of the central government as part of the technology upgrade to minimize human interference.
“We are moving to an automatic system where we do not need a meter reader to visit consumers for billing or snapping power supply to defaulters. The reading directly reaches our data centres, while the power supply to defaulting consumers can be switched off from the control room,” he said.
On claims of some consumers that they have got higher electricity bills after the replacement of the digital with smart meters, the official said, “Why should the department charge extra money from the consumers? The people should be assured that they will get electricity bills for the units which they have consumed.”
“If they have any issue, we are here to resolve it amicably and there is no need to protest,” the chief engineer said, appealing to the people not to get misled by propaganda and instead use the energy judiciously.
He said smart meters provide an opportunity to consumers to watch their daily consumption of power, using the mobile application.
“We seek the support of the public in smooth installation of the meters which are highly beneficial to them,” he said.
Seth said the smart meters come with a five-year warranty and would be replaced without any cost in case of a fault or damage.
He said the fully metered areas are being provided round-the-clock electricity supply. “We have already installed 1.80 lakh meters in Jammu city, over 50 per cent of the total target.”