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Smart
Card Prepayment Metering System
is a new billing methodology that combining a superior
electronic customer account management system, state-of-the-art
metering equipment and smart card technology, that
provide a Power Utility a substantial saving both
in manpower and money while providing new payment
option for the customers. It reduces operational
cost with paperless revenue collection system and
can even replace any electromechanical meter in
the market. In this system, the meter used Smart
Card as the medium of communication with the customer,
the utility and authorised Charging Station.
The Smart Card Prepayment Metering system not only
replaces the conventional meters and their associated
billing system, but also the meter readers and revolutionalised
the administration of the revenue collection system.
For the conventional system, the bill is produced
with the help of a meter reader. The customer pays
the utility based on the value stated on the bill.
In Smart Card Prepayment Metering System, the customer
has to buy the “credit” which is loaded
onto a Smart Card, and use it to charge the prepayment
meter. The credit that has been loaded onto the
meter will be deducted according to tariff rate
and electricity energy consumed. Basically, the
philosophy behind this system is “pay as
you use”
The system eliminates the need of sending a meter
reader to collect data at the customer premises.
Instead as a customer inserts his charged Smart
Card into the meter and the information such as
total kWh consumption, previous 12-months kWh consumption,
available credit and etc. is then transferred by
the meter to the card. The downloaded data will
then be transferred to the utility database once
the customer recharges their card.
The various available software that can be embedded
into the meter, the Smart Card and the backend system
together make the system very flexible and can cater
to any utility requirement. An electronic prepaid
kWh meter will act as a “bank”, as long
as some credit is available inside the meter, electricity
will be made available to the customer. The
level of credit inside the meter will be deducted
according to the tariff as programmed for the respective
customer.
The Master Terminal together with the database at
the Utility Office acts as the “brain”
of the system where all “policy” data
such as block tariff, time of use tariff and types
of customer etc. are kept, updated and process.
MIM Smart Card Prepayment Metering System provides
total revenue collection solution to utilities and
helps them to collect their revenue with the utmost
efficiency.
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