Electricity bills are generally calculated based on actual consumption recorded by the meter. However, sometimes it’s not possible to record the correct meter reading due to issues like a defective meter, locked premises, or missed reading. In such cases, the billing software generates bills using predefined logic called the Bill Basis.
Let’s understand what each of these terms — MU, MIN, UM, ASS, CEIL, NA, NR/PROV — means
- NA : Not Accessible - If the meter reader is unable to access the meter (e.g., the door is locked or the meter is at an unsafe height), they mark the meter as NA.
- NR : Not Read - If the meter reader did not visit the premises or did not take the reading, the bill basis becomes NR.
- PROV : Provisional - With most meters now installed outside, NA and NR are rarely used. Now licensee needs to install meter outside and meter reader has to take reading every months. So, NA/NR is not used in current scenario. Instead Provisional bill basis is used for the above reason, if meter read was not done for any reason.
- MU : Meter Unit - This is the normal case — the bill is generated based on actual meter readings. It means the reading was taken successfully and accurately reflects your consumption.
- MIN : Minimum Charges - Minimum charges is the charge in accordance with the tariff in force from time to time and come into effect only when the sum of fixed charges and energy charges are less than a certain prescribed amount. If consumption is low and billing is done with that prescribed amount, bill basis will be MIN. It is specific to only few category.
- UM : Un-metered - If no meter were installed at the premises and billing is done by un-metered tariff.
- ASS : Assessment - If the meter is found defective, billing is done on an assessment basis.
The system checks the consumer’s average consumption over the past three months and bills accordingly.
When, Bills are defective more than 3 months, in such cases normative billing is applied using standard norms:
- LMV-1 (Domestic) - 155 unit/KW/Month
- LMV-2 (Commercial) - 260 unit/KW/Month
- LMV-6 (Industrial) - 260 unit/KW/Month
- CEIL : Ceiling - Hindi meaning of CEIL is सीमा, could be understood as Limits or boundary.
- If the system finds that a consumer’s consumption exceeds a predefined limits (say 800 units/kW/month), the CEIL bill basis is applied temporarily.
- This indicates licensee for a field inspection to check:
- Whether the consumer is using more load than sanctioned
- If the consumer was managing the reading store before.
- If the meter is actually defective and reading gets jumped suddenly.
Note: The CEIL bill basis continues until a manual bill revision is done after inspection.
Why Ceiling Limit is 800 kWh/kW/Month
Technically, a 1 kW load can consume a maximum of 720 kWh/month (1 kW × 24 h × 30 days). Considering a few extra days in some billing cycles, the limit was rounded to 800 kWh/kW/month.
If consumption exceeds this, it usually indicates a defective meter, excess load use, or abnormal reading.
Though DISCOMs have recently raised the limit to 1500 kWh/kW/month to avoid unnecessary CEIL billing, the earlier 800 kWh limit was technically justified.
