Meter reading
Definition. A meter reading is the cumulative kilowatt-hour figure displayed by the meter at a point in time; a bill quotes two of them — the previous and the present — and bills the difference.
Also called: Present reading · Previous reading · میٹر ریڈنگ
Where you see it: The reading block on the front of the bill, showing previous reading, present reading, reading date and a status code.
Reading the display correctly
Read left to right and stop at the decimal. On an electromechanical dial meter the last digit is often on a red drum or behind a red bezel — that is tenths of a unit and it is not billed.
Digital meters cycle through several screens. The one you want is labelled kWh or 1.8.0 on many models; other screens show voltage, current, maximum demand or tamper flags, and reading one of those produces a nonsense figure.
Checking the bill against the meter
The present reading on the bill was taken on the reading date printed beside it. Your meter today will be higher, by roughly your daily average multiplied by the days elapsed.
If today's meter reading is lower than the bill's present reading, the bill is wrong — a meter cannot run backwards. Photograph the display with a dated timestamp before going to the office.
Rollover
A five-digit register rolls from 99,999 to 00,000. A cycle spanning that point should be billed as (100,000 − previous) + present, and occasionally it is not, which produces a wildly negative or wildly high unit figure.
Rollover errors are unambiguous once identified and are corrected at the sub-divisional office without needing a formal complaint.
Frequently asked questions
Should I photograph my meter every month?
It costs nothing and it settles almost every reading dispute. A dated photograph on the reading date is far more persuasive than a recollection, and it also protects you against a later detection assessment.
What do the status codes beside the reading mean?
They record how the figure was obtained — read normally, estimated, or assessed because access was refused. An estimate code on a cycle you were home for is worth querying.
Related terms
- Units consumed — The one number on your bill that you can actually verify yourself, how it is derived from two readings, and the arithmetic that turns it into rupees.
- Multiplying factor — Why some meters record a fraction of real consumption on purpose, how the multiplying factor corrects for it, and the billing damage a wrong factor does.
- Average bill — Why your bill sometimes says AVG instead of showing a real reading, how the estimate is built, and how the correction lands on the following month.
- Smart meter — What Pakistan's AMI rollout changes for a consumer, what a smart meter can and cannot do, and whether smart meters really produce higher bills.
Go further
Back to the full 44-term glossary, or open your own bill with the reference number lookup.