March 29, 2019 01:15 am | Updated 01:15 am IST - CHENNAI
KRISHNAGIRI, TAMIL NADU, 22/05/2015: A digital meter being fixed by Tangedco staff in Krishnagiri. Photo: N. Bashkaran Circuit Breakers
Officials of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) are taking steps to overcome the shortage of single and three-phase digital electricity meters and hope to normalise the situation by the second week of April.
While the material management department has sought details from local unit offices in the city for allotment of meters, the electricity officials have also roped in private firms, from whom consumers can purchase meters across the counter.
A senior official of the Tangedco said delay in procurement of digital meters of single and three-phase had resulted in shortage and also caused hardship to consumers for more than a month. However, as per tenders awarded for procuring the meters, the equipment is set to arrive only in the first week of April.
Soon, the situation of meter shortage would be solved, he added.
In the meantime, the electricity officials have also planned to make consumers source electricity meters directly from the manufacturer through the empanelment route to avoid delay in giving power connections.
A senior official of the Tangedco said the empanelment process involved the meter manufacturer paying a fixed fees, after which the empanelled vendors would have to make provisions for the MRT team to inspect the laboratory for quality check and then approve the meters. Once the serial numbers of the inspected meters are approved by Tangedco, it would be made available to the consumers through their dealer outlet.
The electricity official said three firms, including Capital Power Systems, Himachal Energy and HPL Electric and Power, had been roped in to supply the digital meters having Device Language Message Specification (DLMS) facility to the consumers.
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