Chennai: Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) is set to privatise meter reading and engage third-party manpower through contracts from Oct onwards to curb erratic assessments that result in wrong and inflated power bills.Tamil Nadu has about 3.5 crore low-tension services, including 2.5 crore domestic consumers. To record power consumption every two months and generate invoices, TNPDCL has sanctioned a strength of 7,565 assessors. However, only 3,063 assessors are functioning, while 4,502 posts, nearly 60% remain vacant.Retired TNEB personnel have been engaged so far to assess electricity consumption at doorsteps. TNPDCL has now decided to outsource the work to meet the shortage and to ensure prompt, accurate and timely meter readings.TNPDCL executive engineers can float limited tenders for six months for additional manpower required, and it will be vetted by the superintendent engineers. These staff should have completed at least a degree or a diploma course, and each person should cover at least 250 services every day in Chennai corporation region, and 220 services in other municipal corporations.“The meter reading shall be carried out by the contractor through the mobile application using an optical probe or Bluetooth transmitter. The contract meter readers shall ensure that the actual meter reading is recorded at the consumer premises, the correct service connection is selected in the application, and the assessment is completed within the prescribed billing cycle,” said a circular issued to all field engineers from TNPDCL headquarters.The retired staffers, engaged for an honorarium of ₹5 per assessment, will be relieved if their performance is unsatisfactory, and regular assessors’ workload will be reviewed.Consumer activist T Sadagopan welcomed the move and said it would curtail the notorious practice of ‘table reading’. “If the contract workers assess meters without delay, consumption will not jump to high slabs, and it will prevent inflated bills. The contract workers should be duly monitored by TNPDCL,” he said.However, TNPDCL assessors’ association president Kannan said the move would do more harm than good. “The contract workers will not have any responsibility and may indulge in ‘table reading’ without visiting the consumer premises or under-assess consumption to favour some consumers. The officials did not even consult the unions by issuing a notice as per procedure. We oppose this privatisation move,” he said.
