Firm replaces faulty electric meters in Panvel and Uran

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has decided to replace meters in Panvel and Uran talukas.

The officials said they were causing revenue losses due to lower meter readings. A total of 32,000 such electric meters are expected to be replaced.

The decision has led to fears among the citizens of higher electric bills. The MSEDCL has said the consumers will not be charged more than what they consume and that the decision has been taken in the interest of the consumers. There are around 2.5 lakh MSEDCL consumers in Panvel taluka and around 1 lakh in Uran taluka.

According to an MSEDCL official, “In 2014, around 32,000 electric meters of a particular company had been installed in Panvel and Uran. A few months later, it came to the notice of the department that the meters installed are showing lower consumption that the actual electricity used by the consumers.”

He added, “It was obviously leading to losses of crores of rupees for MSEDCL. This has led to the decision to replace the meters with new ones.”

Officials said that over 6,500 metres have been replaced in Panvel and Uran so far. Officials of Thane Municipal Corporation remove illegal hawkers from the station areas such as Talaopali, Dada Patil Wadi, Subhash Path and Ashok Talkies on Wednesday.

Girish Mhatre, a resident, said: “The meters are being changed without any notice or information to the consumers.”

He said, “In summer, our electric bills had been naturally high. We were hoping that with the monsoon setting in and heat reducing, our power bill for July will go down. However, with the new metres, the opposite could very well happen.”

DB Gosavi, executive engineer, MSEDCL, Panvel, reiterated that the installation of new metres will not hike electricity bills. “They will only pay for as much as they use. Due to the faulty readings of the meters, MSEDCL has suffered losses and that is why this decision has been taken,” said Gosavi.

PRAFUL GANGURDE