The Ministry of Power (MoP) has issued the draft Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendement Rules, 2023.
As per the draft, in case of smart meters, the meters shall be read remotely at least once in a day and in case of other pre-payment meters, the meters shall be read by an authorised representative of the distribution licensee at least once in every three months. The data regarding energy consumption shall be made available to the consumer, through website or mobile app or SMS, etc. Consumers having smart pre-payment meters may also be given the data access for checking their consumption and balance amount on real time basis. In addition, time of day tariff will be made effective immediately after installations of smart meters, for the particular category of consumers with smart meters. The ministry has sought comments on the draft by April 14, 2023.