Nagpur: The State-run electricity distribution company MSEDCL has blacklisted a Hyderabad-based electricity meter supplier for supplying 10 lakh substandard meters which reportedly recorded reading much lower than actual consumption. Rolex Meters has been blacklisted for a period of three years. However the consumers have now started questioning MSEDCL’s take on the meters which jump readings and show erroneously high readings putting consumers at loss. The consumers are pressing such meters should also banned. With the onset of summer every year, citizens often complain of faulty (read high) readings leading to whopping bill amounts. So it becomes imperative for MSEDCL to ban such meters also which cause their benefit at the cost of consumers.
The letter issued by MSEDCL to Rolex states that the single phase radio frequency meters initially behaved normally but after six months their performance started deteriorating. It stops or slows down when the electricity usage by the consumer is less.
This caused the meter to record consumption lower than actual and consequently the electricity bill was of lower amount. Naturally, MSEDCL has suffered a huge revenue loss and this loss will continue until the meters are replaced.
As per the contract, the meters are under a guarantee period for a period of five years from the date of commissioning or for five and a half years from the date of dispatch, whichever is earlier.
MSEDCL had earlier issued a show cause notice to the company seeking explanation for the malfunctioning of the meters.
Sources pressed that MSEDCL should now also check for meters by other such suppliers, especially those which are malfunctioning to fetch higher readings.
