“Modern meters are part of the Automated Electricity Accounting and Control System, which is planned to be launched from April 2021. This system will be fully operational after 100% coverage. Today, 72% of consumers have such meters. This is one of the main reasons leading to manually connect to the network once it is disconnected due to debt,” the ministry said.

However, it is not long to wait for the full operation of the system, considering that the majority of users – 5.3 million (or 72% of the total) – have already received modern electrical energy accounting devices. About 2.9 million or 54% of users with these counters are already connected to the billing system.

“The main purpose of the introduction of this system is to ensure transparency between the consumer and the supplier, to clarify the payments for the released electricity, as well as to strengthen the payment discipline for the electricity used by the consumers,” the ministry added.

It also produces and analyses information needed for the modernization of the electricity supply system. In particular, the Automated Electricity Accounting and Control System makes it possible to identify the excess loads on transformer substations and networks, thus helping to prevent accidents and ensuring the uninterrupted supply of electricity to consumers.