Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 16
WITH the State reeling under heavy Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses to the tune of 60 percent, the Power department for the first time has come up with the initiative to install pre-paid meters in a phase wise manner. This initiative has been taken in order to bring about reforms in the power sector and to reduce the AT&C losses.
The project will be carried out in two phase. In the first phase, around 715 consumers will be metered and subsequently 200 consumers will be metered in the second phase. The ring fencing of Distribution Transformer (DTs) L.T. lines have been completed and all DTs will be metered, while all the connected loads of all the consumers have also been assessed.
This was informed by the Power department officials today during an inspection round carried out at Marwari Pati led by the Parliamentary Secretary for Power, Kipili Sangtam and department officials.
The pilot project for implementing the pre-paid meter project is earmarked in this area. The work has already begun in right earnest and is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Talking to media persons after the inspection, Kipili underlined the need for regular payment of bills by the citizens.
“Consumption of power is increasing everyday, but there is no improvement in payment. We are suffering because we are not paying our bills,” he said adding that the department is trying its best to bring comfort to the citizens by providing regular power service.
The Parliamentary Secretary expressed happiness that the initiative has opened up a new chapter in the history of the Nagas. He further expressed hope that the implementation of the project will help inculcate a sense of responsible ‘power usage’ among the consumers.
For the Power department though the main objective of the project is to arrest the falling revenue of the department through the non-payment of bills, reduction of huge arrears, inaccurate metering due to aged or faulty meters, and power theft.
The introduction of pre paid meters is also expected to address malpractices such as false meter readings, inaccurate minimum and average billings, and also to address customer complaints of improper and duplication of bills.
The project also aims to solve energy theft cases, energy meter by-passing cases and direct hooking, and also to provide better customer service by reducing long queues during payment of bills.
