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State-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will install 2.34 million smart prepaid meters in Bihar, under its "Smart Meter National Programme".

Accordingly, the joint venture under Union Power Ministry signed agreements with South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL) and North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (NBPDCL).

"The smart prepaid meters will optimise the Discom operational performance by increasing the billing and collection efficiency, reduce the operation and maintenance cost; and enhance the quality of service, along with providing the consumers with demand side management (DSM) options," the company said in a statement .

"The smart prepaid meters are connected through a web-based monitoring system, which will help to reduce commercial losses of utilities, enhance revenues and serve as an important tool in power sector reforms."

As per the statement, EESL's smart metering initiative is revamping the current manual system of revenue collection, which currently suffers from low billing and poor collection efficiencies.

"The implementation of these meters will also enable considerable energy and monetary savings for consumers, who will have an avenue to track their power usage in real time."

"The prepaid functionality of the smart meters is also an added advantage, as it provide the Discoms with an option to switch to prepaid mode, wherein the consumers pay upfront for the electricity."

According to the statement, the utility of this feature was quite apparent during the lockdown, as Discoms in Bihar were able to generate a daily revenue collection of Rs 500,000, with consumers on an average recharging their prepaid smart meters with a credit balance of Rs 20 daily.

"The immediate generation of working capital for the Discoms is also highly advantageous, as the revenue is generated at the point of sale, which otherwise takes couple of months."

"Some other key benefits of smart prepaid metering include, a marked reduction in peak power purchase cost, the ability to conduct power quality analysis in near-real time such as power factor, maximum demand, voltage etc., and a sharp reduction in carbon footprint, chiefly due to the reduced patrolling for meter reading, disconnection or reconnection, outage detection etc."

The 'Smart Meter National Programme' aims to replace 250 million conventional meters with smart meters in India.

Under the smart meter national programme, EESL and Intellismart have installed over 1.6 million smart meters in the country.