If all went to plan, by December this year, 17.5 lakh smart meters should have been installed in the limits of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) in industries and commercial establishments, government offices, and a few other places. However, so far, no smart meters have been installed by Bescom under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) (a scheme launched by the Government of India to improve operational efficiency of discoms and reduce their losses).
Although the proposal given by Bescom for the implementation of RDSS was cleared by the State Level Distribution Reforms Committee (SLDRC) in December 2021, there has been no progress as the proposal awaits the State cabinet approval. While officials are tight lipped as to why the project isn’t cleared yet, a senior official said the project seems to be in “cold storage” for now.
For smart meters to become a reality, after the cabinet approval, the detailed project report (DPR) should be approved by the Monitoring Committee, which comes under the Ministry of Power before the meters can be sanctioned. According to a well-placed source in Bescom, at that stage, the pending government dues of the company could act as a catch for the sanction. Currently, Bescom is owed around ₹5.5 thousand crores by various government departments.
