Dimapur finds hitches in installing prepaid power meter

Following in the footsteps of Punjab, the Dimapur Urban Council Chairman Federation (DUCCF) has withdrawn its support for the power department’s prepaid meter scheme.

In a press statement released today, the federation claimed that the decision they took during a consultation meeting with the power department in 2022 when they offered their support and cooperation to the prepaid meter system will be considered ‘null and void’.

The federation also stated that it will meet with the GB Union of Dimapur Sardar before choosing whether or not to endorse the required pre-paid method.

The federation is an apex body of the Chairmen of 98 colonies and according to them, they stand for the citizens and the denizens of the urban municipal area of Dimapur.

This opposition comes only after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab did not submit to the Modi government’s push for prepaid digital power meters in 2022.

How the push for prepaid meter began

With electricity bill defaults and power theft costing hundreds of crores of rupees monthly, Modi’s government announced plans to make all power meters in the country prepaid from April 1, 2019.

The Central Electricity Authority (Installation and Operation of Meters) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 of the Electricity Act, 2003 mandated the installation of smart prepaid meters for all categories of users.

It said, “All Government offices at the block level and above, and all industrial and commercial consumers, shall be metered with smart meters with prepayment mode by December 2023” and “All other areas shall be metered with smart meters with prepayment mode by March 2025”.

Former Adviser to the Power Department, Tovihoto Ayemi, was seen in November 2021 declaring that there were 19,000 prepaid meters throughout Nagaland, with 10,000 installed in Dimapur and 9,000 in Kohima.

He also stated that the prepaid meter system is now required, and that by December 2023, every consumer’s house must have a smart prepaid system installed.

Following this, the Nagaland government issued a notification on April 1, 2022, stating that the Power Department will be required to install smart pre-paid meters for all categories of users in a time-bound and phased manner, with immediate effect.

Since then, Nagaland’s power department has started installing smart prepaid meters in all homes in Kohima and Dimapur.

So, how about Mokokchung?

Er Achanger Aier, SDO Electrical, Mokokchung Sub-Division, informed this newspaper that the government has yet to provide any information or orders about the installation of a pre-paid meter system in Mokokchung.

He stated that once they obtain such directions, they will first disseminate the information to the general public through various media channels before reaching out to various wards and councils.

Benefits and drawbacks of the Pre-paid Meter System

Nungsang, a Kohima resident who used a pre-paid meter system at his café establishment but is on post-paid for his domestic residence, stated that one advantage of pre-paid is that there is no nominal price.

“In post-paid whether you use it or not, you still had to pay some meter charge but in pre-paid, if you do not use it, you do not have to pay,” he said, adding, “Because you are paying for what you have consumed, you become more economic and in that way, generally, you end up conserving a lot of energy.”

Yet, other than promoting judicious energy consumption and eventually influencing people’s lifestyles by encouraging them in choosing electronic devices that consume less power, he stated that there is a disadvantage to the pre-paid meter system.

“It is indeed pretty expensive,” he said, adding that the cost seemed to double in pre-paid as compared to post-paid.

“It is difficult to establish whether we are paying for the electricity we consumed or not. Because, for example, if you pay Rs 500 for heating water postpaid, the same quantity of water is boiled by like Rs 1000 in pre-paid; therefore, in my observation, the cost is much higher in prepaid,” he said.

He further concluded that although people prefer ‘post-paid’ yet, as far as he knows, people have started utilizing electricity more judiciously ever since the prepaid meter system has been introduced.