Your meter has stopped, is running fast, or is damaged
The symptom: “The meter display is dead, or the reading has not moved, or it seems to be racing.”
Short answer. Report a stopped or damaged meter in writing immediately, because consumption during the fault period will be assessed on your own past average and prompt reporting is what keeps that assessment from being treated as a detection case. If you believe the meter is over-recording, apply for a meter test — a meter found outside its accuracy class is replaced and the billing adjusted.
Urgency: Act before the due date. Expect: Replacement of a failed meter typically takes one to four weeks depending on stock. A laboratory test result takes two to six weeks.
Why this happens
- Display failure on an electronic meter
- The register usually survives a dead display, so the data is recoverable at the workshop even when nothing is visible on the wall.
- Burnt terminals
- A loose terminal screw heats under load until the block chars. Visible scorching around the cable entry is the signature, and it is a fire risk rather than merely a billing problem.
- Moisture ingress
- A cracked or missing cover lets rain in. Condensation behind the glass is the early warning; erratic readings follow.
- Genuine drift
- Mechanical meters slow with age far more often than they speed up. Electronic meters drift less but are not immune, and both have a defined accuracy class they are supposed to stay within.
- It is not the meter at all
- A meter that appears to race is very often correctly recording a load the household has not identified — an immersion element stuck on, a pump cycling continuously, or a leaking connection downstream.
What to do, in order
- Report it in writing the day you notice. This single step is what separates a routine assessment from a detection case. Get the application stamped with a diary number and keep the copy.
- Photograph the meter and its condition. The display, the seals, the terminal cover and any visible damage. If the meter is later removed, this is the only record of the state it was in on your wall.
- Do not interfere with it. Do not open the cover, do not touch the seals, do not have a private electrician 'check' it. A broken seal converts a fault into an allegation of tampering, and the burden then shifts to you.
- Apply for a meter test if you dispute accuracy. A test is conducted at the company's laboratory against a reference standard, and a fee applies which is refunded if the meter is found defective. You are entitled to be present or represented.
- Expect an average-based assessment for the fault period. Units for the period the meter was not recording are assessed on the same months in the previous year, or on the immediately preceding healthy months. Check which basis was used — the two can differ substantially for a household whose usage changed.
- Verify the new meter's details on the first bill. Old meter final reading, new meter initial reading, and the multiplying factor. Errors introduced at meter change are common and are much easier to fix in the first cycle than the sixth.
What to take with you
- Written application, stamped
- Photographs of the meter before removal
- The meter change certificate, once issued
- The last twelve bills, for the assessment basis
If it stalls, escalate in this order
- Sub-divisional officer for reporting and replacement
- Executive engineer if replacement stalls beyond a cycle
- Provincial Electric Inspector for any dispute about test results or about the assessment quantum
Attach the earlier stamped applications at each rung. Starting the story again from the beginning at every level is the slowest possible way to escalate.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays for the new meter?
Where the meter failed in normal service, replacement is the company's responsibility as owner of the equipment. Where damage is attributed to the consumer — physical interference, or damage from the consumer's own installation — the cost is recovered.
My meter stopped six months ago and I said nothing. What happens now?
Report it now regardless. The assessment will cover the fault period either way, but voluntary disclosure is treated very differently from discovery during an inspection, where the tampering framework and its penalties come into play.
Can I have the meter tested by an independent laboratory?
Through the Electric Inspector, yes — that office can order testing and its proceedings are the proper forum when you do not accept the company's own test result.
Related problems
- You have been issued a detection bill — A large charge for past months has appeared on my bill after an inspection.
- The reading on your bill does not match your meter — The present reading printed on my bill is higher than what the meter actually shows.
- Your bill has jumped and nothing obvious changed — This month's bill is far higher than last month and I have not changed anything.
- Your meter is in the wrong place and needs moving — The meter is inside the house, behind a locked gate, or somewhere nobody can read it.
Background reading
All 17 procedures are listed in the help centre index. For company contact details and helplines, see complaints.