PATNA, Jan. 22 -- The All India Discom Association (AIDA) bestowed a gold award on the North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) for improvement in consumer satisfaction in digital payments. Union power minister Manohar Lal presented the award to Manoj Kumar Singh, Bihar's energy secretary and chairman-cum-managing director of the Bihar State Power Distribution Company Limited, at the Electricity Distribution Industry Conference (EDICON) 2026 in New Delhi on Wednesday, a press release said. The minister lauded the efforts of Bihar's energy department for the remarkable reduction in aggregate transmission and commercial (AT&C) loss and improvement in the financial condition of distribution companies. The AT&C which once stood at 59.24% in 2012 had now reduced to 15.54% with a target to reduce it to 10%. Addressing the session on "Effective Use of Smart Meters and data analysis" during the conference, Bihar's energy secretary said, "Smart meters can be used not only for revenue collection but also for strengthening operational efficiency and providing better services to consumers through analysis of the data obtained from them." Speaking about the extensive installation of smart meters in the state, he said, the process of installing pre-paid smart meters was initiated in Bihar in 2023. In 2021, both distribution firms in the state were operating at a loss, but due to the commitment to provide uninterrupted, quality power supply to electricity consumers, smart meter installation, improvement in digital payments, and better service delivery, within two years, both companies recorded profits....