Over 3 lac consuming power without meters across Jammu

The power development department (PDD) is incurring losses in crores every month in the Jammu division as over three lakh consumers are receiving power without meters in Jammu division that too at a time when the government has made ambitious plans to install electronic meters across the union territory to check power pilferage.

At present, the department has covered such consumers under a flat-rate system of billing.
As per data, there are 10,24,000 electricity consumers in the Jammu division. Of these, 3, 62,000 are burning electricity without meters. Every month the electricity department is facing line loss of crores of rupees, and even the work on the installation of electronic meters is moving at a snail’s pace.

Even chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta had earlier called for putting an end to the flat-rate system of billing by the department. The Chief Secretary had stated that J&K is being given utmost priority in the installation of smart meters and had stressed that 7 lakh meters must be installed and be made operational by March 2023 in Jammu and Srinagar cities.

In the Jammu division power worth 66 crores is being consumed every month. At present, the line loss to Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited(JPDCL) is more than 60 percent. Electricity worth Rs 66 crore is consumed every month, but only Rs 8 to 10 crore is realized from it. To check power theft after 2020, the Electricity Department started work on installing smart and prepaid meters.

At present there are 8,81,000 total consumers with domestic meters in Jammu division, of these, 5,35,000 are metered, while 3, 44,000 are without meters. Similarly, there are 1,03,000 commercial consumers, of these, 91 000 thousand are metered, while 12 000 are without meters.

These consumers pay bill according to the minimum sanctioned load, while in reality they consume far more units of power causing revenue losses. If the meters are installed in such locations the bills will be 4-5 more then what consumers are paying right now. At present, these consumers are paying flat-rate according to the load, but no one is verifying how much electricity has been consumed actually. This is causing more than 60 percent line loss every month.

Moreover, few government departments to are consuming electricity without meters, while same is the case in the agriculture sector as many water pumps are running without meters.

As per data out of seven thousand meters in government departments, 700 are yet to be installed. In the industrial area, out of 9100 consumers, nine thousand consumers have got meters installed while 100 are without meters. There are 18, 663 consumers in the agriculture sector. Of these, 15, 440 are metered and 3223 are without meters. In public lighting, 84 out of 112 are running without meters.

There are 2,000 consumers of the Jal Shakti department, out of which only 12 have meters, while 800 are burning electricity without meters. Not only this, there are seven thousand meters in the state and central government departments, while 700 are without meters. Out of 2085 consumers in the pump set, 1100 are metered, while 985 are unmetered.

As per PDD official following the protests, work has been stopped in some places. So far the target has not been met. Meter facility is being provided in rural and urban areas. The action shall be taken against those consumers who are not installing meters. Metering is mandatory for all, he said.