Smart Metering with Prepaid Functionality – Challenges and Success Story of Bihar

Complete State (All District/Cities – Covering entire Urban and Rural areas)

Both Distribution Companies of Bihar (NBPDCL & SBPDCL) taken together are serving a consumer base of 1.85 crore spread across vast geographical areas and major component of it pertains to domestic category falling predominantly under Rural areas. In Bihar, out of 1.85 crore consumers, 92% are Domestic Consumers living in both urban & rural areas. The work of Meter Reading, Billing and its Collection were earlier carried out in a manual mode with billing activities completely outsourced except capital town of Patna. Considering the challenges of Manual Mode with ever increasing consumer base, it was decided to implement spot billing on large scale for meter reading, bill preparation and its delivery to consumer. Collection activities are being carried through collection counters, vendor agencies and direct digital payments from consumers etc.  Both the Distribution Companies' are still grappling with Revenue Management issues like timely & correct meter reading, billing & collection in spite of nearly complete implementation of Spot Billing along with meeting the AT&C loss reduction target. Coupled with this there have been challenges in proper assessment (Billing covering all parameters) due to wrong billing on account of improper recording of consumers load, irregular & non payment by consumers and its contribution in the AT&C Losses.

Serving to a very large portfolio of consumers spread out in vast territories of the state (second only to Uttar Pradesh in numbers), providing consumers with error free, quality & timely bills and simultaneously recovering the billed amount has been a major operational challenge for the DISCOMs.

Looking for a robust solution for correct meter reading and recovery through advance collection, in 2013-14 the State Utilities (NBPDCL & SBPDCL) started their journey of removal of human intervention and took a lead in implementation of simple prepaid meter beginning from capital town of Patna and few other towns.  A total no. of 6692 simple prepaid meters were installed under pilot project. 

However, this solution could not be scaled up due to the inadequacies in this system like implementation of yearly tariff change by individually updating each meter whereas for energy accounting there was requirement for visiting each consumer premises for taking meter reading.

During year 2018-19 the concept of Smart Metering was getting discussed at National level as an alternative of simple prepaid meter to address the issue of timely and correct meter reading along with remote disconnection & reconnection of the consumer supply in case of its non-payment. Though this was a major achievement due to both critical functions i.e. Meter Reading and Remote disconnection & reconnection of consumer services can be achieved but the issue of timely payment remained a challenge due to non-payment in time. In case of non payment in time by a large segment of consumers, the process of disconnection and reconnection (after payment) was feasible from remote, still it was not automatic but has to be carried out on one to one basis. 

Bihar has already reaped the benefit of simple prepaid meter, a decision was taken by the Govt. of Bihar to implement Smart Metering with Prepaid functionality only by taking the best out of both models i.e. Simple Prepaid Meter and Smart Metering. In the year 2019, Smart Metering with Prepaid functionality was conceptualized for the first time in the country in Bihar and a decision was taken by Govt. of Bihar for its universal implementation for the entire state covering both Urban and Rural Areas.

The implementation of Smart Metering with Prepaid Functionality was started from urban areas of Bihar by EESL as Advance Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP), which is being implemented entirely on OPEX mode

The journey of implementation from Simple Prepaid Meter to Smart Metering with prepaid functionality proved to be a real challenge for Distribution Companies of Bihar. The first challenge was to develop pre-paid functionality in Smart metering architecture. EESL (AMISP) along with its agency EDF as System Integrator engaged Accenture as software developer for development of prepaid functionality feature in the smart metering. Considering the challenges faced during the initial stage of development it was decided to form a joint team consisting of IT Professionals of Distribution Companies overseeing/ monitoring the IT work of SAP Billing in urban areas and NIC billing in Rural Areas with AMISP and its IT Team of Accenture. 

For implementation of prepaid functionality in smart metering the IT integration of existing billing system was required. As the Distribution companies had two different billing system each i.e. SAP & NIC and both of them did not have prepaid architecture /system. Therefore it was decided that monthly billing invoice will be generated after reconciliation of Billing & Payment done through counter online transaction & daily updation through Smart Metering AMI system. 

Prepaid system enables daily charge calculations, daily meter reading being available on MDM and prepaid charge calculation engine was developed on MDM with deduction of fixed charge, energy charge and Arrear etc.

In between development of prepaid charge calculation engine & its testing, a middleware was developed to be integrated with two billing system at single integration point for Smart AMI System. In this case EESL AMI system and presently three nos. i.e. EESL, Genus & Secure Smart Meter AMI system are integrated and further any numbers of smart meters AMI System with Prepaid Functionality can be easily integrated with middle ware of Distribution Companies to cope up with the challenges of Multiple AMI Service provider. In other terms Middleware can be used as universal bus interconnecting (interface) Smart Prepaid Meter AMI System with DISCOM Billing System.

• In House Customization of Meter Data Management (MDM) & development of Middleware for data-command communication between meters and billing software.
• Retaining old meter for some period during installation of Smart Pre-paid Meter to address the issue of apprehension from consumers regarding its fast working and higher billing. This arrangement of old meter and new Smart Pre-paid Meter were installed in series and displayed for demonstration at different field offices of the Distribution Companies to instill confidence amongst consumers.
• During implementation, it has been observed that at certain locations due to communication issues, the lines after disconnection do not get timely reconnected after payment. To address this issue, a dedicated Grievance Redressal Mechanism has been put in place to resolve such issue even by physically visiting the consumer premises.
• Consumers availing electricity through Smart Pre-paid Meters have been provided with extra rebate.

• Saving in Cost of Meter reading, Billing, Collection & prevention in unauthorized use of Electricity :- Smart Meters with Prepaid Functionality along with energy accounting at 33 KV, 11 KV and upto Distribution Transformer (DT) level which will minimize inefficiencies in meter reading, billing, collection and will facilitate near real time identification of loss pockets. It will also help in formulating the strategy and taking corresponding steps for plugging the loopholes in unauthorized use of electricity, thereby having significant reduction in AT&C losses.
• Consumers Benefits:- 
  • No RC/DC (Reconnection/ Disconnection) charges levied to the consumers. Further no disconnection takes place during weekly/ public holiday & beyond office hours of 10.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. 
  • Additional rebate in Energy Charges making a total rebate of 3%.
  • No need of separate net meter in case of installation of Grid Connected Roof Top Solar Plant by consumers.
• Monitoring of consumption / Credit/ Debit through Consumer Mobile App for controlling the consumptions/usages of energy by the consumers.
• Removal of manual intervention in Meter Reading and Bill Distribution thereby providing objectivity which lead to increase in operational efficiency and resource optimization by effective management of resources involved in meter reading, billing, collection. Ultimately it will be passed on to the consumer through tariff.
• Facilitates Demand Side Management at consumer level by DISCOM.
• Satisfied people in terms of error free billing with Pay as per Use, additional rebates, clarity on disconnection/reconnection process, real time monitoring of its usage etc.
• DISCOMs Viability in terms of real time monitoring of all revenue & energy management activities, minimum manual intervention and backend analysis of targeted action plan based on Artificial Intelligence.
• Impact on Socio -Economic environment of the State in terms of skill development, job opportunities, saving of energy resources etc.
• Better cash flow for Distribution Companies due to advance payment by consumers and thereby gradual reduction in burden on Government. 
• Ensure timely/ advance payment of power purchase cost thereby taking the advantage of rebate as well as non-levy of penalty.

Following impact have accrued in the town of Ashiyana and Bankipur between Apr 20 – Jul 20 Vs. Apr 22 – Jul 22 for LT consumers during the implementation of Smart Prepaid Meters:

• Collection Efficiency: Increase from 94% to 115% in Ashiyana town and Increase from 92% to 105% in Bankipur town
• Arrear Recovery: 100% recovery of arrears (Rs 5.72 Crore arrears in 2020) in Ashiyana town and 100% recovery of arrears (Rs 4.83 Crore arrears in 2020) in Bankipur town
• Average Monthly Revenue Collection/ Consumer: 65% increase (Rs 1602 to Rs 2650) in Ashiyana town and 34% increase (Rs 1768 to Rs 2373) in Bankipur town
• Billed amount (assessment): Increased by ~47% (Rs 24.7 Crore to Rs 36.4 Crore) in Ashiyana town and Increased by ~85% (Rs 12.6 Crore to Rs 23.4 Crore) in Bankipur town
• Average Monthly Consumption/Consumer: Increase from 321 kWh to 330 kWh (2.7% growth) in Ashiyana town and Increase from 219 kWh to 310 kWh (42% growth) in Bankipur town

With installation of more than 12.50 lakh Smart Pre-paid Meters in urban areas which constitutes more than 50% of the total consumers of urban areas, there has been significant improvement in quality of meter reading and billing resulting in increased collection and a significant reduction in AT&C losses also. Now DISCOMs are facing practically no issues related to revenue matters wherever these meters has been installed along with no expenditure on meter reading billing and its collection. The consumption in these areas has stabilized which shows the trend of saving of energy, which will ultimately lead to conservation of energy as well. This has established a proverb used in engineering parlance "The thing which is not measured cannot be managed/controlled". Here measurement implies for correct measurement.

• After successful implementation of Smart Prepaid metering in urban areas of Bihar, a decision was taken during 2021-22 for extending the implementation of smart prepaid metering covering entire rural areas of Bihar having 1.48 Crore Rural Consumers in Phases under HYBRID Model with a project outlay of Rs 15,074.22 Crore under State Plan. A sum of Rs. 10,551.95 Crore out of the total cost of implementation is from infusion of Private Capital Investment whereas balance Rs 4,522.27 Crore as CAPEX Portion will be the contribution from the State Government.
• The contract of Phase-1 for 36 lakh Smart Prepaid Meters covering 9 districts out of 38 districts of Bihar has already been awarded. The work has started with implementation period of 30 Months and more than Twenty five thousand meters has been installed as on 01.03.2023.
• For remaining 112 lakh meters NIT were invited, Bid has been received and award is under process.

Based on the experience of finalization of Phase-I tender wherein tender were invited DISCOM wise and accordingly two separate AMI Service Providers were awarded the work having two different rates. Hence the two Distribution Companies have floated single tender for remaining 112 lakh Smart Pre-paid Meters which will be awarded to four different Bidders at a common rate through bucket filling approach.

To implement prepaid functionality in smart metering the IT integration of existing billing system was required. As the Distribution companies have two different billing system each i.e. SAP & NIC and both of them do not have prepaid architecture /system. Therefore, it was decided that monthly billing invoice will be generated after reconciliation of Billing & Payment done through counter online transaction & daily updation through Smart Metering AMI system. 

Prepaid system enables daily charge calculations, daily meter readings are available on MDM and prepaid charge calculation engine was developed on MDM with deduction of fixed charge, energy charge and Arrear etc.. 

In between development of prepaid charge calculation engine & its testing, a middleware was developed to be integrated with two billing system at single point integration point for Smart AMI System. In this case EESL AMI system and presently three nos. i.e. EESL, Genus & Secure Smart Meter AMI system are integrated and  further 'n' numbers of smart meters AMI System with Prepaid Functionality can be easily integrated with middle ware of Distribution Companies. In other terms Middleware can be used as universal bus interconnecting (interface) Smart Prepaid Meter AMI System with DISCOM Billing System