Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Addressing the furore over smart meter complications in the region, Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MPMKVVCL) has said that the 547 CM Helpline complaints were found to be without merit.
Speaking to the media on Monday, C.K. Pawar, the General Manager of the MPMKVVCL, which caters to the Bhopal, Narmadapuram, and Gwalior-Chambal divisions, stated that their team has verified all complaints and addressed each one, providing detailed explanations to each complainant.
Regarding the installation progress, Pawar stated that 1.95 lakh out of the 6 lakh smart meters to be installed in Bhopal have been placed. Around 2.25 lakh smart meters have been installed in 16 districts of the region, he said.
Pawar, explaining the common complaint of inflated bills, said, “Some of the old meters were found to be tampered with, so the consumers were getting reduced bills. Between the removal of the old meters and the installation of smart meters, there may have been some error in feeding the data and that also might have led to inflated bills.
Otherwise, it is wrong to say that smart meters give inflated electricity bills and increase financial burden on consumers.”
‘Pak officials? Matter with higher-ups’
In reply to apprehension that Pakistani officials were working on the project, the GM said, ”The tender has been given through e-tendering to a Saudi Arabia-based company. The issue of Pakistani officials working in the company installing smart meters in Madhya Pradesh is being looked at by the higher-ups.”
