It was during the routine checks that the officials realised that the old meters are not giving exact readings. The officials are now installing the hi-tech meters with the calibrations, which are different than the old ones.

“These irregularities are surfacing during the survey and check-ups, which we do at regular basis. Though the variation can be negligible at individual level but the cumulative loss would be huge,” said Shailesh Naik, in-charge of the Gas Project.

The problem is prevalent in the walled city where the connections were given long ago. But the process to change the old meters with new ones was not given importance. “Now, we are installing the new meters which give precise reading and there is no scope for tampering. The new connections have the new meters whereas the process to change the old ones is still on,” Naik added.