Sub-meter electricity billing for PGs & rentals: setup guide
Per-head electricity splits punish light users and subsidise AC-heavy rooms — the single biggest billing dispute in North Indian shared housing. Sub-metering fixes it permanently. Here is the setup.
Choosing and installing sub-meters
- Certified digital energy meters per room (or per high-load appliance) — ₹800–₹2,500 each installed.
- Mount visibly so tenants can read their own meter.
- Photograph all readings on the same date each month.
The fair split formula
Each resident’s share = total DISCOM bill × their units ÷ total sub-metered units. Deduct common-area load (corridor lights, lifts, pumps) first and either absorb it in rent or split it equally as a separate visible line item.
Per-unit rate rules to respect
Charge the effective rate from the actual DISCOM bill rather than an inflated flat rate — several state regulations and tenancy norms frown on landlords profiting from electricity resale. Transparency (show the bill) is both safer and better for trust.
Making it dispute-proof
Keep reading photos, per-tenant calculations and payment records in one ledger. Automated systems read the numbers, run the split and add each share to the tenant’s monthly QR — arithmetic ends, and so do the arguments.
Automate this with PropXFlow: UPI rent collection, e-KYC onboarding, utility splitting and maintenance ticketing for North Indian operators. See how PropXFlow automates this →