Prepayment metering system

By Amit Kumar Gupta

Introduction
The term prepaid has been very much in news since
the mobile revolution began in India a decade ago.
Various factors have led to the genesis of
Prepayment Metering concept in India keeping in
view the benefits that's going to accrue to all
involved in the concept and its acceptance.
Prepayment or pay as you go system is receiving
more and more attention worldwide as utilities are
looking at ways to improve customer service,
improve their cash flow and minimize their risks.
The concept of prepaid remains the same but there
is going to be a paradigm shift in the application.
It's altogether a new arena in Metering India which
is likely to be important to revenue and energy
management. This will in the days to come, open
up new vistas for investment and deployment of
infrastructure for better customer services. There
will be immense benefits, which will be reaped by
the State Electricity Boards (SEBs), private utilites
and citizens of India.
The objective of the paper is to share the details of
Prepayment Metering system as a concept and
highlight the role to be played by all stakeholders in
getting the concept effectively implemented for the
overall benefit of the Indian Power Sector

Background

Geographically, prepayment meters have been deployed across the globe.

South Africa and UK have deployed this system in huge volumes and with
considerable success. Other countries who have adopted the system include
Brunei, Argentina, USA, Poland, New Zealand, Malaysia, Israel, Zimbabwe,
Nigeria, Kuwait, France, Bangladesh and India.

Why Prepayment?
Power utilities in India have been striving hard to extend best possible
support to customers by improving revenue collection efficiency. Meter
reading, preparation of bills its distribution and collection of payments takes
away a considerable amount of time and efforts for the utility which can be
eliminated by the prepayment metering system.
Interestingly electricity supply is one of the only commodity at present
which is billed after it is consumed, everything else we use in life (cooking
gas, prepay mobiles, grocery, clothes etc.) is paid for before it's used.
Demand side management, improved quality of supply along with high
customer satisfaction has resulted in acceptance of the new system by
utilities everywhere.
The benefits that Utility can look forward to on behalf of customers as well as
the utility are as follows:
Benefits to Utility:
a) Up front payment for electricity:
Energy is paid for before it is consumed. This is in contrast to the current
arrangement of paying for them after use. The benefits will lie in earlier cash
flow for Utility.
b) No unpaid bill:

Prepayment metering system is very simple. The

consumer has a new kind of meter installed in his
house which has an inbuilt disconnecting device.
The customer buys electricity in advance by paying
at any of the Vending office. Once the amount is
exhausted the meter automatically disconnects the
supply after providing an alarm. The consumer can
reconnect himself by buying more electricity and
recharging the meter.

Because energy is prepaid the problem of collection of arrears and unpaid bills
will be no more.
c) No meter readings:
The problems associated with the logistics of meter reading will be eliminated,
providing a substantial saving to Utility.
d) Lower overheads:

Historically, prepayment metering system dates

back to over 100 years. The first prepayment meters
were manufactured by GE in the year 1899 which
were coin operated similar to the coin operated
telephone booths. Technological advancement
saw new generation of Prepayment Meters using
Magnetic cards and then Smart cards. The latest
generation of Prepayment Meters uses Keypad
technology, wherein there is a telephone like
keypad on the meter for recharging.

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As there is no meter reading, no billing, no bill generation, there is a gradual

decrease in the overheads. This manpower of Utility can be put for some
further value added jobs like vigilance etc.
e) No incorrect bills:
Because no bills are sent, incorrect billing as a result of inaccurate meter
readings is no longer a problem.

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f) No disconnection/ reconnection:

Implementing a Prepayment Project

The prepayment system will naturally remove the need for the Utility to get
involved with the unpleasant and often difficult task of disconnecting errant
customers. This will lead to direct savings in manpower, transportation and
legal expenses.

To implement a prepayment project we have to give

importance to the needs of both the utility and its
consumers. There has also to be due consideration
given to ensure that whatever technology is
deployed the same is socially acceptable and as
such the economic viability is justified.

g) No account queries:
A considerable amount of time is often wasted in rechecking meter readings
and statements as a result of queries from customers. This requirement is
altogether eliminated.
h) Tamper and fraud detection:
Comprehensive tamper and fraud detection allow phase failures, reverse
energy, phase reversal, on power up resets, missing neutrals etc. to be
time/date stamped, & reported.
I) Load Control:
The prepaid meter would offer true load control and demand side
management.

a) Social acceptance
Proper marketing and PR campaign can help
consumers opt for prepayment. Non disconnection
at odd times i.e. night or Sundays/holidays would
negate the inconvenience of having prepayment
meters. Customer's control of their disconnection
and reconnection automatically will make it easy
for them. Consumers aren't often happy about
getting a bad surprise when their bills come and
would rather be happy for what they pay and use.
Customers can budget using the financial
information provided by the meters and can thus
buy electricity to suit their needs monthly/
weekly/daily.

It will allow customer to buy electricity as and when is required by him.

Socially, the concept of prepayment can turn out to

be successful only if prepayment metering system
is accepted by the society as a whole. Social
acceptance is of utmost importance for the
successful deployment of this technology and as
such its introduction should be strategically
planned.

b) No standing in long queues:

b) Vending Infrastructure

Benefits to Consumers
a) Pay-as-you-go system:

The system can provide in future complete flexibility of purchasing

electricity via telephone, internet, GSM etc and would thus obviate
consumers from standing in long queues for purchasing electricity.
c) Allows the consumer to budget:
The prepaid system will empower customers to understand the cost of
energy and thus enable them to budget their usage in accordance with
their financial position and lifestyle. Because it is not necessary to pay
large bills once a quarter or month they may choose their own timing and
frequency of purchasing electricity.
d) Display of remaining credit:
The prepaid meters have the provision to display the actual remaining
credit I money value as well as the total kWh consumption. This will put
consumers in the position to manage their energy purchase to suit their
requirements. Since the meter displays credit instead of energy units it's
easy for the consumer to co-relate the tariff with his expenditure.
e) Help become energy conscious:
A large percentage of the populations are often not aware of the effect of
abuse of electricity and the environmental impact it has on community.
Because both the remaining units and the consumption rate are displayed
the consumer can readily adapt to become energy conscious.

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The convenience of payment for electricity in terms

of location and denominations of one's own choice
helps the customer. Prepay mobile industry has
increased the level of customer expectation for
recharging their mobile phones. A mobile phone
can be recharged by buying cash cards from
multiple outlets which are conveniently located.
Similarly customers for prepayment metering
system would look forward for buying electricity
conveniently from number of vending outlets. With
the technological advancement they would even
prefer to purchase electricity using internet, mobile
phones and as such an online system just like the
banking system would be preferred. Utility would
on the other hand like to have negligible initial
investment on the vending infrastructure and may
in turn agree to pay a per transaction fee.
c) Systems Integration
Easy system integration between utility systems,
customer database and retail cash collection would
make the system very popular. Prepay metering
system should be capable of supporting multiple
tariff options like Time-of-use and Slab tariffs.
Additionally the meters should be capable of acting
as post paid meters if the need arises thus providing
the utility with a future proof solution.

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d) Lifetime costs
The system as a whole should be cost effective to
facilitate deployment on a large volume. The
economic viability should come from reduced
operating costs for the utility, upfront cash
collection, reduction in customer complaints, odd
hour complaints, failure rate of meters. The system
should be cheap and easy to start and scalable for
out of area sales.
e) Regulatory acceptance
Honorable regulators can play a very important
role in the facilitating the introduction of these
systems. He can ensure that
Consumer interests are properly being taken care
of in the new system.
Consumers are being provided incentives
(discount/rebates) to opt for prepayment
voluntarily.
Tariff rationalization is done.
Competition is created in the market so that the
system is cost effective.

Experiences in the Indian context

Prepayment Metering System has slowly and
gradually started to gain foothold in the Indian
Power Sector scenario. Various utilities in India
since last few years have embarked upon the
journey of Prepayment Metering System with due
approval from the Honorable Regulatory bodies.
Utilities from Delhi West Bengal, Himachal,
Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, UP etc
have joined the prepayment bandwagon.
So far the experiences have been for a pilot trial
which have been fairly successful though has
resulted in surfacing minor problems of moving
from a conventional postpaid system to a
prepayment system. Importance of Tariff
rationalization, system integration etc has cropped
up. The issues and concerns are being addressed to
simplify the process and necessary steps are being
taken to resolve it.

Conclusion
The successful payment system implementation
by the utility, as well as the social acceptance
among customers coupled with the Regulators
support will prove to be a win-win situation for
all the stakeholders. The payment system brings
potential advantages with it, but there are
certain issues which have to be addressed when
moving from a conventional post paid system to
a prepayment system so that its introduction on
a large scale proves to be beneficial to all the
concerned.

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