Patna, Dec. 21: Calcutta-based firm MD and PGtronics Private Limited has started their work of reading metres and distributing bills to the consumers. This comes as a relief as the people of the state may no longer have to wait for electric bills.

Patna Electric Supply Undertaking’s (Pesu) took a decision in November to outsource the job to the private agency from December 1 to carry out the work.

“According to the decision, we have already entered into an agreement with a Calcutta-based firm MD and PGtronics Private Limited for the purpose. Their job would be to go to the houses and flats of consumers to jot down the actual metre readings and hand over the bills instantly. This will resolve the grievances of the common man to a large extent,” Pesu general manager S.K.P. Singh told The Telegraph.

Pesu would issue authorisation cards to the employees of the private agency. Singh said the signatures would add credibility to these employees. “The employees would take the photograph of the metres while jotting down the readings, to avoid common complaints that metre reader did not go their houses,” the general manager said. He said the photographs would be stored in the system with the help of a software.

Singh said once the scheme of taking metre reading from hand-held billing machine, which has recently been launched in the Gardanibagh division of Pesu’s 10 divisions on a trial basis, is proved successful, the private firm’s staffs would be given the machine to jot down the readings and hand over the bills to consumers instantly.

These hand-held machines would be connected to the main server at all collection counters in the 10 divisions, to ensure generation of the current bill. Singh said at this point the firm would not take any deposits, but would do so “only at a later stage”.

He said the phenomenal increase in the number of consumers, which swelled to more than 3.25 lakh in 2010-11 from 2 lakh in 2003-04, was another reason why the people were facing a lot of difficulty.

“The agency would be paid on the number of consumers they deal with,” he added.