On 5th August 2022 the Review Planning & Monitoring (RPM) meeting with States and State Power Utilities was held at New Delhi, under the chairmanship of R. K. Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy in presence of Minister of State for Power and Heavy Industries, Krishan Pal Gurjar.
- During the meeting, the Union Minister launched the 10th Integrated Rating of Power Distribution Utilities, 1st Consumer Service Rating of DISCOMs (CSRD) for the FY 2020-21 and Bharat eSmart Mobile Application (BeSMA).
- Attendees – Secretary for Power, Secretary for New & Renewable Energy along with other senior officials from Ministry of Power, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Power Sector CPSEs and Power / Energy Departments of various States and State Power Utilities were present in the meeting.
About Integrated Ratings of DISCOMs:
i.The Integrated Rating exercise has been carried out annually since 2012 with the aim of evaluating performance of state utilities on a range of parameters which covers financial sustainability, performance excellence and external environment and their ability to sustain improvements year over year.
ii.The revised rating will be dynamic in nature which also includes Private DISCOMs and State Power Departments for comprehensive coverage.
- The details regarding Integrated Ratings can be accessed at urjadrishti.com.
About Consumer Service Rating of DISCOMs (CSRD):
i.This report captures the current status of consumer services across various DISCOMs under various key parameters of consumer services on a seven-point scale.
ii.The parameters include operational reliability, connection services, metering, billing and collection services, fault rectification and grievance redressal.
- The report on Consumer Service Rating of DISCOMs (CSRD) will be available at recindia.nic.in.
About Bharat eSmart Mobile Application (BeSMA):
i.BeSMA is being built up on strong security measures that provide essential information to consumers about balance electricity remaining, both in terms of Units and Monetary terms.
- The App would be available to all the Distribution Utilities free of charge and is amenable to customization as per specific Utility needs for 10 years which is free for the DISCOMs.
ii.Through the mobile app, the consumers can access real time information related to their electricity usage and receive alerts and notifications.
iii.This also provides multiple options and gateways like Unified Payment Interface (UPI), net banking, credit and debit card for payment and recharge through Mobile phones.
Gujarat State discoms top
Out of the total 71 discoms evaluated, Gujarat discoms, namely Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL) and Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL) secured the first and second spot, respectively, while two other State discoms, Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL) and Pashchim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) ranked fourth and eighth respectively with A+ grade.
Recent related news:
The government has set up a society, The Power Foundation, that is registered under Societies Act, under the Ministry of Power that will act as the top policy advocacy arm for power and allied sectors.
