Prepaid electricity system to be introduced

AJK govt ensure delivery of accurate electricity bills, hopes to discourage illegal practice of power pilferage.

MIRPUR (AJK): The Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) government is considering the introduction of a prepaid electricity meter system in the state, with special focus to ensure the delivery of accurate bills to the consumers as well as discouraging the illegal practice of power pilferage, officials said on Tuesday.

Officials said that the plan also involved the introduction of meter reading cards. The state government was taking these steps in light of the frequent complaints by consumers about wrong billing by the Electricity department.

Monitoring cells, headed by the Electricity Department’s Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs), have been established at all the district and tehsil levels to receive public complaints about inaccurate billings.

Currently, the electricity bills are compiled manually by the revenue wing of the state electricity department.

Officials also said the government has decided cap the posting period of a line man or a meter reader in an area for three months at a stretch. “No line man or meter reader will stay in one post for longer than three months in any area and their transfers would be rotated under the new policy,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the government has also directed the Electricity Department to gradually replace old meters and power supply lines with new ones. APP

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2010.