Pakistan to fit smart meters on transformers at all DISCOs
Officials are seeking funding for the plan, and any privatised power utility must award new projects through competitive bidding.
Smart meters will be fitted to transformers across all DISCOs, the state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema said on Tuesday.
Cheema made the remarks while chairing a meeting in Islamabad.
He said the meters would help stop electricity theft, make bills more accurate and shield consumers from being overcharged.
The meter plan would also protect investors and the government, he added.
The meeting reviewed development programmes for the DISCOs and the Economic Affairs Division's efforts to secure funding for installing the meters on transformers.
Negotiations with multilateral partners on development programmes will continue until privatisation is complete, Cheema said.
If a DISCO is sold while talks or programme preparations are still under way, its financing and projects would pass to the private buyer under agreed terms.
Cheema added that any new project a private investor takes on within a DISCO must go through competitive bidding and, where applicable, be approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority.
He stressed that privatisation should not push costs or extra pressure onto consumers, and said the government would facilitate the process while protecting consumers and holding investors to their financial and contractual obligations.
The DISCOs are the companies that distribute electricity to homes and businesses, and the government has been working to privatise them as part of wider power sector reforms.
Power theft and billing complaints have long been among the challenges facing distribution companies in Pakistan.
