Acclerated power reform development and its impact on ground water regime in Uttarkhand state (India) - A case study

In the wake of the Indian Electricity Act 2003, the complexity and challenges of the power sector have increased manifold. The act makes the process of balancing the commercial vis-a-vis the social concerns even more challenging. In the present environment, if we take the case of Haridwar where the process of meter installation is in the completion state, but putting the system in place for meter reading and bill collection is far from complete which is causing serious concerns among the users therefore utilities in Uttarakhand have to re-engineer itself and take immediate steps to stream line the meter reading and tariff collection process.

When SERC is promoting metering it should also keep in mind that the component of transaction costs of metering, which is by far largest and the most difficult to manage, arises from containing user efforts to study indicates that the farmers have the willingness and resources to pay regular electricity bills based on metered tariff, provided they are subject to proper billing system and an efficient energy supply system without any type of harassment.