Report of Indian Institute of Public Administration ... - Ministry of Power

State Reports (Vol.-III)
Study on `Impact of Restructuring of SEBs’
should be decided by the company and not by agency performing the activity. A
recent case reported in the press would clarify this point better. An agency was given
the job of meter replacement in a circle. Major portion of the work was completed.
Due to delay in completion, the circle office decided to do the remaining work
departmentally. It was then noticed that replacement of meters important from
commercial considerations of utility (such as high consumption industrial/commercial
consumers, long period for which these were faulty, etc.) were not changed in
preference to meters belonging to consumers with low average consumption. This
happened because either priority of meter replacement was not specified while
outsourcing or, if specified, the agency did not follow the same and adhered to its own
priority!
SPECIFIC ISSUE OF OUTSOURCING OF METER READING
So long as Automated Meter Reading (AMR) schemes or pre-paid meters are not
installed for majority of the consumers, the activity of reading of energy meters at
intervals is commercially very important for the company. Since it contributes directly
to revenue earning of the company, total outsourcing of reading of energy meters
may not be a proper commercial decision. It is only through this activity that the
inspection of the meter installation is possible at regular intervals when, apart from
reading of energy meters, other related information regarding faulty meters, meters
not read, meters fixed at inaccessible locations, possible theft of electricity, etc.,
would be available to the company for taking timely corrective action. Therefore this
activity should be considered as a value adding activity rather than an unimportant and
routine activity that could be outsourced.
Some managers express an opinion that departmental meter readers do not work
honestly/diligently and hence the need for outsourcing. It is not clear on what basis
they assume that persons employed by the agency for meter reading are honest and
would be working properly.
The remedy lies, not in totally outsourcing this commercially important activity but
in installing a secure and reliable system of checking of meter readings recorded by
the meter reader. If additional manpower is needed for this activity, either it can be
redeployed from other departments of the company or recruited afresh. Since the
companies will definitely need to move out of ‘General Administration Department’
mode to ‘HR’ mode, it should be possible to tap sizeable manpower for redeployment.
The outsourcing could also be extended in areas of compiling meter readings recorded
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