Former Minister Approaches AP High Court Alleging Agricultural Electricity 'Smart Meter' Tender Awarded For '600% More Than Price Fixed By Union Govt'

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has issued notice to the State, APEPDCL, APCPDCL and APSPDCL in a Public Interest Litigation filed by a former Agriculture Minister of the State, challenging the grant of a tender for revamping existing agricultural electricity meters with smart meters by the Power Distribution Companies at a price which was 600% more than the price fixed by the Union of India.

The petitioner contended that the present PIL filed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice R. Raghunandan Rao was because he was "constrained to the extent of the manner in which Agricultural meters sought to be revamped with the proposed smart meters and the manner in which the tenders have been conferred on an agency for a whopping price far more than the standard price prescribed by the Central Ministry of power by all the three Distribution Companies at the instance of people in power."

The issue arose when the three distribution companies (DISCOMs) namely; Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APEPDCL), Central Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APCPDCL) and Southern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APSPDCL) sought to revamp the agricultural electricity distribution within the State of Andhra Pradesh and called upon tenders for the same, in furtherance of the Revamped Power Distribution Sector Scheme (RPDSS) promulgated by the Ministry of Power Government of India.

The Government of India launched the RPDSS on 20th July 2021, to improve the quality, reliability and affordability of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable operationally efficient distribution sector and has offered to contribute 15% i.e. up to Rs 900 per meter and 60% for distribution infrastructure and called for the states to participate in the scheme and revamp the existing distribution infrastructure.

The petitioner alleged that the decision of tender allotment was taken at the instance of the "people in power to benefit the contractor of their choice" and that since the Chairpersons of DISCOMs were appointed by political interference of ruling dispensation the Companies were working at the instance of the people in power.

The petitioner vehemently argued that the Government of Andhra Pradesh provided free electricity to the agriculture sector and that there was no cost to the consumer for electricity provided to run agricultural activities.

As such, it was argued that there was no need to revamp the meters and that the data regarding agricultural consumption could be taken directly from the SCADA ( Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) database.

It was brought to the notice of the Court that the Centre had estimated the cost of the meter to be INR 6000/- and undertaken to pay 15% of the amount, i.e., INR 900/-. However, it was pointed out that the DISCOMs had floated tenders, and accepted the bid of two contractors who quoted an astoundingly high price.

The petitioner also highlighted that by way of letters addressed to the Chairmen and Managing Directors of all three DISCOMs, in 2022, the Government of Andhra Pradesh Energy Department had heavily deprecated the idea of installing smart meters.

It was argued that the Ministry of Energy had also raised practical doubts regarding the initiative stating that it was not conducive to install such meters in open fields, bringing up the issue of price, which was predicted to go down drastically in the years since.

The Ministry had also suggested an alternative in the form of IRD Port Meters which were a whopping 780% lower in price than the smart meter.

The petitioner contended that the Power Distribution Companies were running losses of approximately INR 84,183 crores and had undertaken the scheme with an ulterior motive to clear their debts. It was also contended that due to past debts, the per unit price was being hiked, making the rates of the State the highest in the country. 

Owing to the gravity of the allegations, the Bench issued notice, called for counters and posted the matter on 20th December. 

W.P.(PIL) 183 of 2023

Counsel for petitioner: Karumanchi Indraneel Babu

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