An app would soon put an end to the problems faced by power consumers when a wrong bill is generated. The android-based app, currently under trial, will show the time and location of bill generation besides other details. At present, meter readers visit consumers and generate bills using the spot billing machines (SBM). But there have been complaints of errors in such bills. Also, there are complaints that meter readers, at times, do not visit the consumers and instead generate bills on the basis of rough estimates. Once the app becomes applicable, meter readers won’t be able to skip the visits to power consumers. As soon as the meter number would be fed into the app, it would save the coordinates and show the location where the bill was generated. Secondly, meter readers would be required to click the photograph of the meter reading. All details, including time and location of bill generation along with the photograph, will get saved in the database. A bluetooth printer would allow the staff to print a copy for the consumer. The app has been tested successfully in Kanpur. “At present, it’s being configured by HCL for Lucknow database which has more than eight lakh power consumers,” said director, technical, Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited, SK Verma.
