The West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Authority has developed a prepaid smart card system for electricity payments to replace traditional meters. Customers will be able to purchase prepaid cards in denominations of their choosing and recharge them as needed. The prepaid meters will alert customers before their card balance runs out. The system is aimed first at remote island communities powered by solar plants. It is hoped the prepaid meter system will revolutionize electricity consumption in West Bengal if widely adopted.

1. The Telegraph - Calcutta : Bengal
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Durgapur, Sept. 4: Forget long queues. Or long bills and weird amounts. Just buy a prepaid
smart card from any West Bengal State Electricity Board outlet according to your need.
The West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Authority has decided to introduce the
Smart Card Operated Prepaid Energy Meters, which would start replacing the existing
electricity meters, after the pujas.
Under the scheme, consumers would get a prepaid card according to their demand, which
they can recharge by making additional payments. The prepaid meters will alert the
consumers before the card is exhausted, prompting them to recharge the cards within three
days.
The concept of such meters was developed by S.P. Gon Chowdhury, the director of the
renewable energy authority, and the design of the meters was prepared by Joydeb
Roychowdhury, a scientist at the Central Mechanical Research Institute, Durgapur.
“The joint venture project between the mechanical research institute and the renewable
energy authority started a year ago and the required fund has been provided by the authority,”
said Gon Chowdhury at a ceremony held today at the research institute’s auditorium to
inaugurate the prepaid energy meters.
The director of the institute, Gopal Prashad Sinha, handed over a meter to power minister
Mrinal Banerjee.
“These meters would initially be installed in the remote islands of the Sunderbans in South
24-Parganas, where solar power plants have already been installed. Soon after the pujas, we
will provide prepaid energy meters to the consumers of Moushumi, Sagar Islands and in parts
of Namkhana and Patharpratima blocks in South 24-Parganas. Later, other areas will have to
adopt this technology,” Gon Chowdhury said.
Banerjee was also optimistic about the success of this concept. “The scheme is set to
revolutionise electricity consumption. If the scheme gains popularity, it would be
implemented in all the districts of the state,” asserted the power minister.
“We have developed four such prepaid meters on an experimental basis and soon will
develop 100 more for commercial uses,” said Sinha. Another 100 meters will be developed
by March, though the renewable energy development authority will start replacing the
existing meters with prepaid ones after the pujas.
“Each meter will cost about Rs 3,000 now but we expect its price to soon come down to Rs
1,500. Consumers will have to pay the installation charges,” said Gon Chowdhury.
Initially, prepaid cards of Rs 100 denomination will be available at solar power plant offices
in different areas of the Sunderbans.