From mechanical meters to prepaid meters was a big advantage as lot of worries of power utilities and consumers were taken care of. But the prepaid meters are also being misused by the developers for slapping society maintenance and other charges on the consumers. The best option is Smart Prepaid Metering Solution offered by Radius Synergies’ Xenius platform, which does not interfere with the functioning of the electricity meters but does the calculation of the billing in the backend.
Prepaid meters have become a boon, both for the power utilities as also for the consumers. These meters not only prevent electricity theft but also eliminate any error in the billing process. Prepaid meters are beneficial for the builders also, as they can charge the consumers for electricity upfront and don’t need to run after them for defaults, s any.
Previously, when mechanical meters were used by the utilities to calculate electricity consumption, both the utilities as well as the consumers faced several problems. There was a huge scope for errors due to some technical glitch or human failing in taking manual reading from the meters. The Electricity Department too faced huge revenue losses due to electricity theft and payment defaults.
- An electricity meter is meant only for monitoring and charging money for the electricity consumed. Charging the consumers through these meters for any other purpose other than electricity usage is illegal.
- Under the UPERC guidelines, other charges, such as common area maintenance charges, water charges and club charges etc. shall not be deducted from the prepaid electricity meter charges.
With the advancement in technology, smart meters, based on Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been introduced. These smart meters are prepaid, which means the consumers have to recharge their electricity account beforehand to get power supply to their homes. Once the balance exhausts, the system automatically cuts off the power supply.
But notwithstanding the multiple advantages of smart prepaid meters, some builders misuse these meters also to their advantage. An electricity meter is meant only for monitoring and charging money for the electricity consumed. Charging the consumers through these meters for any other purpose other than electricity usage is illegal. But many builders and RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) slap society maintenance charges on the residents through these meters.
Under the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) guidelines, other charges, such as common area maintenance charges, water charges and club charges etc. shall not be deducted from the prepaid electricity meter charges and the electricity supply of the consumers shall not be disconnected on the grounds of default in payment of these charges. Despite the UPERC making it clear to the builders that collecting maintenance charges through electricity meters is an illegal practice, many builders are resorting to it.
To take care of this problem, Radius Synergies International has come up with Smart Prepaid Metering Solution, which does not interfere with the function of the electricity meters but does the calculation of the billing in the backend using its own software. Its software platform Xenius is a highly secure platform with every possible compliant certificate. Charging maintenance and other charges through this smart prepaid metering solution is legal in all aspects, and hence highly beneficial to both, the builders and the consumers.
