India's Power Sector
Smart Meters and Prepaid Power
How smart meters measure electricity use in real time, why India plans to install hundreds of millions of them, and the debates over prepaid electricity.
A smart meter records electricity use in real time and communicates it to the discom.
India’s plan
Under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, India targets around 25 crore (250 million) smart meters, many on a prepaid basis.
Benefits for discoms
- Accurate billing without meter readers.
- Less theft and tampering.
- Faster collection, especially with prepaid.
- Data on demand patterns.
Benefits for consumers
- Track usage on an app.
- No estimated bills.
- Possible time-of-day pricing to save money.
Prepaid meters
Like a prepaid mobile plan: you recharge, and supply stops if balance runs out.
Concerns
- Sudden disconnection for poor households if balance runs out.
- Complaints about higher bills in early rollouts, sometimes due to fixing old under-billing.
- Installation costs and delays.
Progress
Rollout has been slower than planned, with states and consumers raising concerns, though millions of meters have been installed.
A family gets a phone alert that their AC use has pushed their daily consumption up sharply. They adjust the thermostat and cut their bill.
They measure accurately; higher bills may reflect earlier under-billing.
- Smart meters record usage in real time.
- India targets around 25 crore smart meters.
- They reduce theft and improve collection.
- Prepaid disconnection and bill complaints are concerns.
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