HMWS&SB Rules Out Removal of Meter Readers, Sets Up Special Meeting
Hyderabad's water board has denied any plan to remove meter readers and will hold a special meeting on their demands, including regularisation.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has stated that no meter reader presently on its rolls will be removed, and that no proposal to that effect exists.
Managing director K. Ashok Reddy said a special meeting would be convened on Tuesday to examine the concerns raised by meter readers, with the decisions taken to be made public afterwards.
The assurance follows a renewed push by meter readers for regularisation, coming in the wake of the deaths of three outsourcing employees.
The board said it has already forwarded the relevant proposals to the government. After a representation from the Telangana Outsourcing Employees JAC in November 2025, the board wrote to the Finance Department seeking clarity on whether meter readers could be brought under the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) portal.
The question turned on the nature of their engagement: the work handled by billing and collection agencies is classified as "activity outsourcing" rather than outsourcing.
An April 2026 letter from the board to the MA&UD (Engineering) department put the proposed strength of meter readers at 782, against a current working strength of 677. Meter readers are engaged through manpower agencies chosen via open tenders. Each agency is paid ₹15,600 a month per meter reader for meter reading or disconnection work, a sum that excludes statutory social security benefits.
In February this year, the board made a second request to the MA&UD department, again seeking clarification on including meter readers in the IFMIS portal.
On delayed salaries for outsourcing employees, the board attributed the hold-up to scrutiny and clearing of bills after agencies submitted attendance details late. It said payments were being released according to eligibility.
Acting on the JAC's appeal, the board also said the tender process for engaging manpower agencies has been halted until the government provides its clarification.