The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Ban Chinese meters’

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Saturday, Sep 01, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

‘Ban Chinese meters’

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Residents’ welfare associations of several areas in the Capital under the aegis of United RWAs Joint Action (URJA) have asked the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission to issue directives to the power distribution companies to ban use of electronic meters that are manufactured in China and can be easily tampered with.

At a meeting with DERC officials on Friday, the RWA members cited the case of a Shahdara resident who is alleged to have been approached by BSES employees to pay a bribe or face charges of power theft.

URJA members said DERC was asked to modify the condition that allows discoms to book consumers for theft of power if the seal of the meter is found broken. “We asked them to insert a column in the bill which will specify that at the time of reading the meter the seal was found intact. This will ensure that if a seal is subsequently tampered with then the consumer will have to pay a fine for the duration during which the seal was broken instead of the discom levying a heavy fine,” said N.M. Mishra of URJA. “We also sought replacement of electronic meters which are orange in colour and are manufactured in China as these are not reliable. The DERC has, however, assured us that they will get the meters tested and quality control will be maintained,” he added.

The RWA members also pointed out that certain areas like East Delhi have to put up with power cuts lasting up to six hours a day. “The DERC officials told us that the report that they receive from the discoms does not indicate such long power cuts, therefore a meeting will be scheduled with the CEO of the discom to sort out the issue,” Mr. Mishra claimed.

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