Fakiha Tariq

The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) would be installed by end of the current fiscal year to overcome the power losses in Pakistan. Responding to questions in the National Assembly, Minister for Power Engineer Khurram Dastgir said that the system was being used in developed countries and it was yielding positive results both for the organisation and consumers.

He said that it would also help to control electricity theft in the country. He added that the installation of the new metering system would bring a significant change in power division and also provide relief to the consumers in the shape of minimum load-shedding in their respective areas.

The minister said that as per normal routine, eight-hour power load-shedding was being observed in those areas where 60% to 70% of consumers were not paying bills. “Nowadays when the electricity situation is better and approximately four to six hours of load-shedding is being observed there,” he added. He said that according to the government policy, there should be a short period of load-shedding in those areas where the ratio of losses was low.

Showing reservations about the new metering system, MNA Ghulam Ali Talpur said that the power division had made a number of experiments so far but it could not get desired results. He said that before introducing the AMI system, the division concerned spent a huge amount on installing ABC cable networking across the country but it also failed to bear fruits.

The minister seconded his apprehension and said that the cable networking project was flopped due to certain reasons. However, he hoped that the AMI system would show a clear picture of the consumption and theft of electricity from a feeder.

He said that it would also improve the quality of the billing mechanism. MNA Dr Darshan Lal proposed to the minister to establish a “complaint cell” at the ministry level for timely redressal of the consumers’ grievances. He said that it was a persistent issue in Sindh and people had to pay extra bills against their consumed units.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk