Electricity bills reaching homes will be a history soon as government is currently planning to revolutionise the entire billing system by making all meters smart prepaid in the next three years. "In next three years metering will go smart prepaid, and gone will be the days of bills reaching your house. So need of the hour is to scale up manufacturing of smart prepaid meters and to bring down their prices." an official release reported citing R K Singh, Minister of State(IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy.
It was also decided in the meeting that the technical aspects will be further deliberated into in consultation with meter manufacturers, DISCOMs and system integrators.
The majority of energy providers encourage customers to pay via annual payment plans, where their yearly usage is estimated in advance and the cost split into 12 payments. This means that millions of bills still refer to "estimated" use, even where customers have smart meters.
The controversy around smart meters is more so because it is the Government's job to set overall energy policy, not the job of suppliers, and the move away from carbon-based energy sources, the national roll-out of smart meters, and the expansion of renewable's and nuclear power has cost consequences, with the consumer expected to pick up the tab
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