The Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIITA) is developing a smart energy metering system (SEMS) that will help eliminate power theft, transmission losses and faulty billing.

“The SEMS will facilitate automated remote meter reading and billing, theft detection and prevention, and real-time monitoring of the distribution network to locate power leak or transmission loss. It will also protect the user’s premise from bad power or short-circuits,” said Professor M Radhakrishna, head of the project and member of the Department of Electronics and Communication.

Started six months ago, the project is in its final stages. It is being funded by Zensar Technologies — an IT major working across 18 countries. The SEMS will be installed at the user’s premise and electric poles and they will be connected with the central server at the power sub-station. From this sub-station, officials can detect power theft or transmission loss in the lines. “The initial testing is encouraging and we will take another six months to come up with the device for the market,” said Babu D Chaudhary, an IIITA graduate involved in the project.

Since it is being developed in collaboration with a private firm, the cost of the project or the devise cannot be disclosed, said Chaudhary. The SEMS will have automated remote meter reading facility that will obviate the need for power personnel to visit consumers to read the meters. No one can tamper with the lines. Like a pre-paid and post-paid cellphone connection, the Power department can disconnect the supply if the usage exceeds a certain limit, or if the consumer does not make the payment by a certain date.

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