NT Reporter Panaji
Power Minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar, on Monday, strongly defended the Prepaid Smart Meter project, in the Goa Legislative Assembly, stating that while the implementation period is 27 months, the vendor will maintain and operate the system for an additional 93 months.
Opposition MLAs, while tabling a calling attention motion, criticised the state government over its proposed power tariff hike, and the plan to introduce prepaid smart meters.
Fatorda GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai, St Andre RGP MLA Viresh Borkar, Benaulim AAP MLA Venzy Viegas, Leader of Opposition and Cuncolim Congress MLA Yuri Alemao and Velim AAP MLA Cruz Silva said the proposals would burden domestic consumers who are already grappling with rising living costs.
They said that compulsory smart meters would force consumers to pay without clarity, and demanded that both the tariff hike and meter rollout be reconsidered. Dhavalikar said the project is a part of the central government’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which aims to improve efficiency and financial sustainability of power distribution companies.
“Goa has one of the lowest electricity tariffs and the highest per capita income,” he said.
He said that under the scheme, the state will not have to pay anything upfront to the vendor.
“The project covers the replacement of 7.5 lakh meters. The payable cost is Rs 117.50 per meter per month, amounting to Rs 9.57 crore monthly,” Dhavalikar said.
He added that since the project is being implemented under the OPEX (operational expenditure) model, the cost impact on consumers would be minimal.
Opposition Leader Yuri Alemao questioned the rationale behind three proposed tariff hikes between 2025 and 2028, stating, “Is it going to happen or is it a political gimmick?” He said that since 2022, there had already been four tariff hikes, yet service quality had declined. “Rs 600 crores arrears are pending and the figure is increasing,” he said, demanding an enquiry into the revenue shortfall.
Alemao said that had recovery been efficient, the hikes would not have been necessary.
Stating that the government is spending nearly Rs 890 crore on the project, Aldona Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira said, “The existing digital meters, which are still functional, will be scrapped. The department should consider auctioning them to generate revenue.”
Sardesai raised concerns over the reliability of smart meters, citing European research indicating errors of up to six times higher or 30 per cent lower than actual usage. Benaulim AAP MLA Venzy Veigas criticised the push for smart meters, saying infrastructure for uninterrupted supply must come first. “First ensure uninterrupted supply and collect arrears from bulk consumers, then start smart meter process,” he said, citing Delhi’s model.
Ruling MLA Delilah Lobo acknowledged public anxiety around smart meters while Margao BJP MLA Digambar Kamat said the department needed to improve functioning of control rooms and address staff shortages to improve service delivery.
