Srinagar, Sep 04 : Amid the installation of smart meters across the Valley, the government on Monday said that at least 26000 consumers have switched to prepaid mode so far in the valley.
“The process to switch the smart meters into prepaid mode has already started for those whose smart meters have been installed in the phase-I. We have crossed about 26000 smart meters so far,” Javaid Yousf Dar, Chief Engineer, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL), told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
He said that the process is going on gradually and all the consumers will have to switch the smart meters into prepaid mode.
Asked when the smart meters installed in the second phase will be switched to prepaid mode, KPDCL Chief Engineer said that at present the integration process is going and the smart meters will be switched into prepaid mode once the integration process is completed. “It will hopefully be started from next month,” he said.
Earlier in July this year, the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) had directed over 57,000 smart electricity meter users to switch from postpaid to the prepaid mode to keep receiving electricity. Else, their connections would be cut off.
About installation of smart meters, the KPDCL Chief Engineer, said that the process is going on and will take almost one or two years more to complete.
Amidst the installation of smart meters, the KPDCL Chief Engineer, told KNO that the cabling work is also being done simultaneously. “In many areas, not only in Srinagar but in towns too, the new cabling work has been done and furthermore, the process is still going on,” he added—(KNO
