Many benefits when changing the electricity meter reading schedule

The change to unify the date of recording electricity meter readings to the end of the month is a new innovation of the electricity industry, helping to gradually improve service quality, creating the most convenience for customers.

Installing an electronic meter is a convenient condition for changing the index recording schedule at the end of the month.

Transparent, easy to monitor

Previously, the monthly electricity bill of Mrs. Tran Thi Thu Trang's family in Hamlet 3, Vi Thanh City was about 400,000 VND, but now this amount has changed. At first, she was quite confused because the electricity bill collection time was later than usual, the number of members and electricity usage demand were the same but the electricity bill was different. After finding out the reason and being explained by the electricity staff, Mrs. Trang was no longer worried.

“Because I’m busy with work, I often leave money at home for my mother to pay. This month, they’re a few days late collecting the bill. They say the electricity industry moved the meter reading date to the end of the month, but the customer’s rights are still guaranteed. I checked the bill and saw the number of days used for the whole month, so I feel secure,” said Ms. Trang.

According to Hau Giang Electricity Company, the implementation of changing the meter reading schedule is carried out according to a roadmap, for each customer group, each area and technical infrastructure and is implemented in general under the direction of the Southern Power Corporation. Currently, more than 9.2 million customers of the unit in 21 southern provinces and cities have been installed with electronic meters, of which more than 70% have the feature of remote data collection. This is an important factor for the power companies under the Southern Power Corporation to proactively develop plans and agree to change the meter reading schedule on the last day of the month in stages. The starting time is from August 2023 and by 2025, 100% of customers in 21 southern provinces and cities will change the meter reading schedule on the last day of the month.

Talking about this change, Mr. Le Hoang Thang, Director of Hau Giang Electricity Company, said that in the province there are currently more than 250,000 households using electricity. Previously, technology did not meet the requirement of collecting electricity consumption indexes of electricity customers using automatic technology, but had to do it manually, had to go to the customer's house to record the index, then enter the index into the system to calculate the bill, this took a lot of time, if all customers recorded at the same time on the same day, it would not be able to meet the demand, so the electricity company had to divide the index recording schedule into many days in the month. Currently, the installation of electronic meters with remote measurement and recording functions, the recording of indexes and calculation of bills are done by a management program on the computer automatically, quickly and accurately, so closing the index at the same time at the end of the month completely meets the demand.

“Electronic meters have many utilities, helping customers easily monitor and control the index, electricity consumption by day and number of days of the month, and easily remember the date of paying electricity bills… Changing the index recording schedule to the last day of the month also helps the electricity industry to correctly and fully account for electricity revenue generated each month, ensuring compliance with the requirements and regulations on tax payment obligations to the State. This is a condition that helps the electricity industry provide accurate information and provide additional value-added services to electricity customers,” Mr. Thang explained.

Strengthen propaganda

Besides the favorable opinions, some customers are still wondering whether this change will increase the monthly payment due to the electricity consumption being calculated by steps.

Responding to this issue, Mr. Le Hoang Thang, Director of Hau Giang Electricity Company, said that people can be completely assured because the electricity industry always has suitable solutions. When the electricity bill increases abnormally, people can check the electrical equipment in the house and review their monthly usage needs. If you have any questions, you can contact the customer care center of the Southern Electricity Corporation for support (19001006 or 19009000).

“Changing the way of recording monthly electricity indexes does not affect the regulated price list. For example, if a customer uses electricity as before for 30 days (or 31 days depending on the month), the standard for level 1 is 50 kWh. If the number of days of electricity use increases to 60 days, the standard for level 1 will also increase accordingly according to the actual number of days of use from 50 kWh to 100 kWh. At the same time, the next steps will also increase accordingly according to the number of days of use. It is not true that when the number of days increases, the standard for each step remains the same, causing the electricity bill to be paid to increase. Therefore, the electricity price according to the regulated price list is not affected, so people will not have to pay more than they use,” said Mr. Le Hoang Thang.

According to Mr. Thang, in the past time, the electricity industry in general and Hau Giang Electricity Company in particular have always strived to serve customers well in the area. However, like other fields, this year the electricity industry has encountered many difficulties. Although the unit has invested in developing many works and projects, some places still have broken and intermittent power grids, especially in remote areas. According to each roadmap, the company will arrange and calculate reasonably to invest in the power grid in suitable areas, in which priority is given to solving with the determination to provide safe and continuous electricity and sell electricity directly to each customer, no longer using tail-hooks, at the same time promoting propaganda on safe and economical electricity use and changing the meter reading schedule to customers, as well as how to calculate electricity bills in the month with a change in meter reading date so that customers understand, share and accompany the electricity industry to improve service quality and serve customers better and better.

Article and photos: MONG TOAN

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