(1) The Licensee shall prepare a plan for adoption of new technologies in metering such as pre-payment meters, time of the day meters (ToD), smart meters and automatic remote meter reading system through appropriate communication system, etc. and implement the same with the approval of the Commission.
(2) Such meters shall conform to the technical requirements as notified by the Central Electricity Authority (Installation and Operation of Meters) Regulations, 2006, as amended from time to time:
Provided that, the Licensee may, after obtaining approval from the Commission, include in the service connection agreement, the necessary special conditions to suit the special metering system:
Provided further that when pre-payment meters are used to supply power, security for electricity charge shall not be collected and that the consumers shall be eligible for a rebate as approved by the Commission for making the pre-payment.
Billing
38. General :
(1) Save and except as provided under Regulation 30, the Licensee shall prepare the bill for every billing cycle based on actual meter readings including the meters installed on the premises of Licensee for self consumption and the bill shall be delivered to the consumer:
Provided that in case of energisation of new connection or replacement of meter, no provisional bill shall be issued for first two billing cycles.
(2) The Licensee shall raise the bill for all categories of consumers as per the billing cycle, unless there is specific agreement between the Licensee and the consumer for generation of bills for a different period and shall contain all the details notified in the Commission’s Orders:
Provided that if there is no specific agreement between the Licensee and the consumer, the billing cycle shall be for minimum 30 (thirty) days and maximum 35 (thirty five) days.
Provided further that in case of new connection, billing cycle shall refer to the period from the date of energisation of connection to last day of that billing cycle and in case of disconnection, billing cycle shall refer to the period from the first day of the billing cycle of disconnection to the date of disconnection.
(3) The Licensee shall upload the details of the billing cycle district wise/division wise on its website.
(4) The Licensee shall upload the bill on its website on the day of bill generation and inform the consumer about issuance of the bill and its payment due date via SMS or email, as the case may be.
(5) The consumer shall have an option to receive the bill either in hard copy or through electronic mode such as e-mail. The consumer opting for receiving bill through electronic mode shall register for the same:
Provided that the distribution licensee shall deliver the bill both in hard copy and in electronic mode such as email for a consecutive period of 3 (three) billing cycles from the date of registration by the consumer:
Provided further that after a consecutive period of 3 (three) billing cycles, the Licensee may stop the delivery of hard copy of the bill.
(6) There shall be a gap of clear 15 (fifteen) days between the date of bill generation and due date for payment of the bill:
(7) The billing details of last 12 (twelve) months alongwith payment receipt details for all consumers shall be made available by the Licensee on its website.
(8) Save and except as provided under Regulation 30, in case if a bill is raised by the Licensee for a consecutive period of more than one billing cycle at a stretch:
(i) The consumer shall be entitled to make the payment in equal monthly installments based on the number of billing cycles for which bill is raised. This shall be clearly stated in the bill.
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(ii) No late payment surcharge shall be levied on such bills, including the installments thereof.
(9) In case of non-receipt of original bill, the consumer shall be entitled to get a duplicate copy of the bill from the office of the Licensee without any cost. However, any subsequent copy of the same bill may be obtained by the consumer on payment of a fee as notified in the Commission’s Orders.
(10) In case of pre-paid metering, the Licensee shall issue a statement on monthly basis to the consumer within 15 (fifteen) days of the end of the month.
(11) In case of pre- paid metering, the Licensee shall pay a rebate to the consumer as notified in the applicable Tariff Order.