Tamil Nadu to outsource meter reading from October amid assessor shortage
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) will begin hiring contract workers to read electricity meters from October, seeking to address a severe shortage of assessors and reduce complaints of incorrect or inflated bills.
The utility has around 3.5 crore low-tension service connections across the state, including 2.5 crore domestic consumers.
Meter readings are taken every two months to calculate consumption and generate bills. Against a sanctioned strength of 7,565 assessors, only 3,063 are currently available. The remaining 4,502 posts, nearly 60 per cent of the total, are vacant.
TNPDCL has so far used retired Tamil Nadu Electricity Board personnel to help with doorstep assessments. It has decided to bring in additional workers through contractors to keep readings on schedule and improve their accuracy.
Under a circular sent to field engineers, executive engineers may invite limited tenders for the required manpower for six-month periods.
The proposals will be vetted by the superintending engineers concerned. Contract workers must have completed a degree or diploma course.
The daily target for each contract meter reader will be at least 250 service connections within the Greater Chennai Corporation area and 220 in other municipal corporation areas.
Readings must be captured through a mobile application using an optical probe or Bluetooth transmitter. The circular instructs contractors to take the actual reading at the consumer’s premises, select the correct service connection in the application and complete the assessment within the prescribed billing cycle.
These steps are intended to prevent readings from being entered against the wrong account or delayed beyond the billing period.
The move follows complaints about irregular assessments and bills that consumers say do not reflect their actual usage.
A missed or inaccurate reading can also create confusion when consumption is adjusted in a subsequent billing cycle.
Retired staff currently engaged for an honorarium of Rs 5 per assessment may be relieved if their work is found unsatisfactory.
TNPDCL will also review the workload assigned to its regular assessors as it introduces the contract arrangement.
The new system places responsibility on contractors to supply qualified readers and complete assessments on time.
Field engineers will oversee the arrangement during the six-month contracts, while the corporation evaluates how the additional manpower affects the billing process across the state.