Rs 100 crore meters scam in Southern Discom

Vijayawada: An alleged Rs 100-crore scam related to the purchase of electric meters in eight districts under the southern discom has drawn the attention of its internal vigilance wing.

The meters lying idle in the southern discom’s Vidyut Soudha campus in Vijayawada for long are said to be worth Rs 15 crore. Meters worth another Rs 90 crore was said to be lying in the open air in the other district.

The inquiry started after the State Vigilance Commissioner received a complaint regarding the alleged scam.

A discom official sought to justify the purchase of the meters by stating that it was part of upgrading technology. He observed that intelligent meters had replaced conventional meters which only measure voltage, current and energy.

The intelligent meters develop a voltage profile within a given time span and have better protection against tampering. The latest Infra Red Data Acquisition meters have the capacity to identify power theft on the spot; the corporation would be able to curtail power thieves instantly.

He had no answer when asked what the discom would do with the lakhs of lying idle. He only said that the meters were not defective. When asked why the meters had been discarded in the open if they were not defective, he had no reply.

Agreeing that public money had been wasted in the purchase of the meters, the senior official said that they could withhold payment to be made to the contractor.

The omnigate meters were purchased from a contractor who quoted Rs 400 per meter, and stood as the lowest bidder. “The contractor was blacklisted. This much I can say,” the senior officer said.

Southern discom chairman and managing director H.Y. Dora was not available for comment.