Floodgates open for cheaper meters

Jamshedpur, May 7: The general manager of Jharkhand State Electricity Board’s Singhbhum area board today withdrew a circular issued to install digital meters of a specific company for domestic consumers, following a controversy.

A.N. Trivedi, the general manager, had issued the circular last month, compelling consumers to buy the digital meters from a top brand — the costliest of all.

Those seeking new connections were in a fix as the digital meters specified were not available in the market. Some suppliers of the power board were selling them for Rs 1,600, against the Rs 700-750 price tag of digital domestic meters of other companies.

“We had raised the issue with some senior BJP leaders, who ultimately took up the matter with the JSEB authorities. I was convinced that there was something fishy in the meter matter and I wanted to get to the bottom of the episode,” said Avinash Sinha, a consumer looking for a fresh connection.

Trivedi said that on April 2, he had issued the notice for installing the digital meters of a company, following a directive from JSEB headquarters on March 18. The directive was issued after a meeting of senior board officials, including the deputy general manager and the superintending engineers from Jamshedpur and Chaibasa circles. “But top officials of the power board are now claiming that they had never instructed the domestic consumers to install digital meters of a specific company. When the chairman and the chief engineer (commercial revenue) are backtracking, why should I not withdraw my circular?” Trivedi said.

K.N. Thakur, the chief engineer (commercial revenue) of JSEB confirmed that officials had instructed general managers at the meeting to ensure that those seeking new power connections purchase meters fitted with anti-frequency guard and ISI.

“But we had not asked the general manager of JSEB’s Singhbhum area board to strictly allow meters of one company” he said.

A senior JSEB official revealed that the top functionaries of JSEB had an understanding with the meter company (with a manufacturing unit in Himanchal Pradesh).