Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme
Also called: RDSS · Topic: Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) is a 2021 Central scheme to fix power distribution. It targets DISCOMs (power distribution companies), the firms that bring electricity to homes and businesses. Its main tool is prepaid smart meters: customers pay before they use power, and the meters measure use accurately. It aims to bring aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses down to 12–15%. AT&C losses are electricity lost through weak wires, theft, metering errors and unpaid bills. These losses are the root cause of DISCOM debt.
AT&C (%) = [1 − (Billing efficiency × Collection efficiency)] × 100
Example
A DISCOM buys 100 units of power. It bills only 85 units and collects 95% of those bills. So it is paid for just 80.75 units, and its AT&C loss is 19.25%. Smart meters help on both counts: they raise the units billed, and prepayment raises the amount collected. India's AT&C losses fell from about 22% (FY21) to about 16% (FY24).
Don't confuse with
- UDAY (2015): under UDAY, states took over the debt their DISCOMs had already built up. RDSS goes after the losses that create that debt in the first place.
- Electricity Act 2003: this law split state electricity boards into separate companies and created the regulators. RDSS is a spending scheme, not a law.