DESC:FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system and a method for providing smart metering as a service. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transaction management system and a method for providing smart metering enabling the utilities and clients to provide metering as a service rather than investment. Further, the present invention relates to a system and a method for rendering end to end services enabling real time communication in smart metering services. Further, the present invention relates to a transaction management system for metering services and method for providing transaction management of metering services. Advantageously, the system assists the utilities and clients by eliminating the heavy capital investment in rendering metering services such as power metering, water metering and gas metering etc.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Utility management has a great significance in power, water and gas sectors. Effective metering is required to assess the consumption of these resources for billing and for other needs. There is an immense growth in generation of resources such as electricity due to the increasing demand from consumers. There are also various kinds of power supply delivered in order to meet the needs of domestic, commercial and industrial usage. The computation of the amount of electricity supply needs unambiguous monitoring and also estimate further consumption requirements. Coordination and planning of electricity supply has to be managed well to reduce the financial loss.

Other resources as water and gas also require monitoring of their usage to control consumption in order to avoid shortage in extreme emergencies. Now-a-days, utilities are providing meters for evaluating the consumption of these resources also. However, it is not widely spread to all regions due to the involvement of high investment costs.

US6980973 discloses a payment service which enables a credit account or a debit account of a customer to be automatically billed for utility usage based on a reading that is automatically taken by an electronic utility meter. A method for processing information relating to usage of a utility includes receiving a utility reading that is a measure of the usage of the utility by a customer. The utility reading is received from a customer site across a first transmission medium. The amount is transmitted to the second remote location across a second transmission medium. The first transmission medium and the second transmission medium are each either a network communications line, a fiber optic line, or a telephone line. The smart utility meter includes an electronic meter reader, a processor unit, a memory, a configuration interface, a network interface, and a power supply.
US20080177678 discloses a method for communicating between a utility and individual customer locations includes the step of communicating between the utility and customers and between the utility and customer equipment located at each individual customer location via the Internet or via an advanced utility meter. The method of communicating typically includes the additional steps of providing each individual customer location with an advanced utility meter and using each individual utility meter to communicate between the utility and the advanced utility meter.
US20100217549 discloses a fractional smart metering system, comprising a processor coupled to a packet data network and a server software module executing on the processor and coupled to an operational database containing at least energy usage information pertaining to an energy consumer and obtained from meter readings at the consumer's premises, and wherein the server software module computes a measure of energy usage for a specific time interval for the consumer, said measure being determined at least in part based on a comparison between the information received from the client software modules associated with the consumer and the corresponding usage information obtained from the operational database, is disclosed.

US20030167178 discloses a transaction authorization system comprises a user interface unit 30 capable of accepting a transaction authorization and a utility meter 10 provided at a location having an associated location identifier unique to the location, wherein the utility meter 10 is arranged to communicate with the user interface unit 10, to obtain a transaction authorization, and to transmit an authorization request based on the transaction authorization and location identifier to obtain authorization of the transaction.

US6529883 discloses a pre-payment energy metering system uses two-way smart card communications. Secure power line carrier communications are provided at the consumer locations communication between a customer terminal and the utility meter. The pre-payment power system of the present invention allows consumers to pay for electricity prior to consumption through the use of the smart card which is loaded with funds at a fully automatic point-of-sale (POS) terminal or at the utility service providers staffed customer service center. Back office software interfaces between the POS terminals and customer service centers, and utility service providers customer information systems.

CN106060161 discloses an electricity-water-gas metering and management internet-of-things test platform and test method. In a sensing layer, an electricity-water-gas metering and management internet-of-things data acquisition platform is jointly formed by an electric meter field data wired/ wireless monitoring system, a water meter field data wired/ wireless monitoring system and a gas meter field data wired/ wireless monitoring system. The test platform and the test method realize internet-of-things teaching and test application by simulating a remote centralized meter reading system, can intuitively demonstrate the connection relation and the information interaction mode among the devices, can realize simulation operation and equipment performance test, and are favorable for popularizing internet-of-things knowledge and cultivating internet-of-things talents.

US20170364909 discloses a secure detachable utility monitoring device to be appended to a utility metering apparatus for controlling at least one utility usage consumption. A means is provided to acquire a utility consumption value metered by said utility meter, a first memory to store at least a unique identifier ID and a personal key, both pertaining to said device, means to generate a cryptogram from information data comprising at least the utility consumption value, said cryptogram being encrypted with said personal key, means to generate an information message including at least said cryptogram and the unique identifier ID, means to send the information message to a remote management center.

CN107067247 discloses a payment method and device. The payment method comprises the steps of recognizing metering information on a consumption gauge used by a user, wherein the metering information comprises a reading of the usage number of consumption articles and user identification; sending the reading of the usage number and the user identification to a payment mechanism used for performing usage charging on the consumption articles so as to enable the payment mechanism to generate a bill corresponding to the current time of metering information; and performing withholding payment for the amount of money corresponding to the bill in a user account corresponding to the user identification. The payment method and device can save the organization cost and shorten the withdrawal period of funds.

Conventionally, utilities purchase these meters and executable software form one or more parties, installing them and then using them for revenue collection from the customers. When revenue collection is ensured, utilities and private clients have to incur a heavy capital expenditure in order to procure the solution and wait for the investment to be recovered through the returns. This traditional practice needs more time and prudence, where the utilities bear a heavy financial burden.

Therefore, there exists a need to develop a transaction management system for metering services and method for providing transaction management of metering services. Further there exists a need for a system for smart metering services to provide effective management among the utilities and other clients.

OBJECTS OF INVENTION
It is primary object of the present invention to provide smart metering services to utilities and clients.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a transaction management system and a method that enables the utilities and clients to provide metering as a service rather than an investment.

It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the revenue leakage problem and high investment costs to utilities.

It is another object of the present invention to render financial benefits to utilities by reducing the capital costs and taxation.

It is another object of the present invention to remove the revenue leakage through prepaid services.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a transaction management system for metering services which assists in revenue collection.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
One or more of the problems of the conventional prior art may be overcome by various embodiments of the present invention.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a transaction management system [100] for metering services, comprising:
an energy metering technology provider or vendor [101];
a prepaid energy meter [102];
a leasing agency [103];
a service provider/implementor [104];
atleast one utility [105];
atleast one consumer [106];
a payment gateway [107];
a network;
a billing platform [108];
a support service module; and
an administrative interface [109],
wherein the leasing agency/ lessor [103] owns the prepaid energy meter [102] and leases [111] out to the utilities [105] and lease rents [112] are paid to the leasing agency [103],
wherein the metering technology provider or vendor [101] comprises the PoS or point of sale end [110],
wherein the consumer [106] end comprises the prepaid energy meter [102], the payment gateway [107], the billing platform [108], and the administrative interface [109],
wherein the billing platform [108] comprises an aggregation software configured to collect data and revenue and monitors the lease status,
wherein the recorded data in the prepaid energy meter [102] is transmitted to a utility [105] through the network,
wherein the captured consumption data is converted to billable data and sent to the billing platform [108] at the utility [105],
wherein the implementor [104] provides service support to the utility [105] and the service charge [113] is paid by the utility [105] to the implementor [104],
characterized in that the implementor [104] provides metering services by facilitating leasing them to utilities [105] on a per user connection lease rental per month basis and the prepaid metering service as per user connection per month service charge basis, and
wherein the charges are combined to a single charge as a per meter per month rental and are debited to revenue collected in escrow account.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the prepaid energy meter [102] records data & tampers, programs tariffs, connects and disconnects resource.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the energy prepaid meter [102] is selected from an advanced metering information (AMI) meter/ smart meter or a digital AC static watt hour meter with or without smart card / keypad communication.
It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the payment gateway [107] enables the customers to pay the bills generated by the billing platform [108].
It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the service provider/implementor [104] outsources the metering service as a plug n play (PnP) solution.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the billing platform [108] uses the aggregated data to convert it in to a billable amount for the utility [105] based on current tariff.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the data is transmitted two-way between the prepaid energy meter [102] and the utility [105] through wired or wireless communication through the network.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the payment gateway [107] is accessible through a mobile application or a web platform.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the payment gateway [107] is selected from the group consisting of debit/credit card, net banking or mobile wallet or the like.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the support service module comprises services selected from the installation, commissioning, transaction management, administrative activities or the like.
It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the utilities [105] and clients/consumer [106] are enabled to monitor and review the paid meter rentals [112] and the remaining loan amount on each meter and review the revenue collected per meter, parameters collected from each meter, and the tamper information collected from each meter.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the utility [105] services are selected from the electricity, water, gas or the like.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the administrative interface [109] aggregates the data for single meter, entire sub-division, entire division, entire zone, entire city and entire utility for further processing.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the point of sale or PoS [110] is configured in the platforms selected from the outside PoS, Web-based transaction platform and application platform or mobile app based transaction platform.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a method [200] for providing transaction management of metering services, comprising:
selecting [201] the prepaid energy meter [102];
issuing and installing [202] the prepaid energy meter [102]; and
financing [203] the prepaid energy meter [102] from vendors [101] and leasing agency [103];
recording [204] the energy consumption data, and transmitting to the utility [105] through a network;
generating [205] a billable data for utility [105];
enabling [206] consumers [106] to pay revenue generation on a secure account/escrow account; and
enabling [207] of the recharge or renewal of the prepaid metering service at a point of sale [110] or transaction platform or exhaustion of the prepaid meter services;
characterized in that the transaction metering services executes the prepaid metering service by leasing to utilities [105] on a per user connection lease rental, per month basis and provide prepaid metering service as a per user connection, per month service charge basis, and
wherein the charges are debited to revenue collected in the escrow account.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
So that the manner in which the features, advantages and objects of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, may be understood in more detail, more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the embodiment thereof which is illustrated in the appended drawing, which form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the drawing illustrate only a preferred embodiment of the invention and is therefore not to be considered limiting of the invention's scope as it may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

Figure 1: illustrates a block diagram representing the transaction management system for metering services according to the present invention.
Figure 2: illustrates a flowchart illustrating the method for providing transaction management of metering services according to the present invention.
Figure 3: illustrates the operational methodology of Smart Card Meter according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION FOR DRAWINGS WITH REFERENCE NUMERALS:
[100] Transaction management system for metering services
[101] Energy metering technology provider
[102] Prepaid energy meter
[103] Leasing agency
[104] Service provider/implementor
[105] Utility
[106] Consumer
[107] Payment gateway
[108] Billing platform
[109] Administrative interface
[110] Point of sale (PoS)
[111] Leases
[112] Lease rents
[113] Service charge
[200] Method for providing transaction management of metering services
[201] Selecting the prepaid energy meter
[202] Issuing and installing the prepaid energy meter
[203] Financing the prepaid energy meter from vendors and leasing agency
[204] Recording the energy consumption data, and transmitting to the utility through a network
[205] Generating a billable data for utility
[206] Enabling consumers to pay revenue generation on a secure account/escrow account
[207] Enabling of the recharge or renewal of the prepaid metering service at a point of sale or transaction platform or exhaustion of the prepaid meter services

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

According to a preferred embodiment of present invention, the present invention relates to a transaction management system and a method for rendering end to end services enabling real time communication in smart metering services. Further, the present invention relates to a system for metering services and method for providing transaction management of metering services. The PrePaid as a service (PPAAS) model aims to bring about a unique transaction management system in the field of prepaid metering with financial solution. The utilities can be rest assured of allocating any funds for capital expenditure, and needs to only worry about operating expenditure. The system depends upon the ability to solve revenue related inefficiencies through the use of prepaid metering. The system recovers the cost of the asset through the incremental revenue that we help collect for our clients. The system can work with any type of meter, any communication module /technology, and any kind of collection mechanism.

Figure 1: illustrates a block diagram representing the transaction management system for metering services according to the present invention. The transaction management system [100] for metering services, comprises an energy metering technology provider or vendor [101], a prepaid energy meter [102], a leasing agency [103], a service provider/ implementor [104], atleast one utility [105], atleast one consumer [106], a payment gateway [107], a network, a billing platform [108], a support service module, and an administrative interface [109]. The leasing agency/ lessor [103] owns the prepaid energy meter [102] and leases [111] out to the utilities [105] and lease rents [112] are paid to the leasing agency [103]. The metering technology provider or vendor [101] comprises the PoS or point of sale end [110]. The consumer [106] end comprises the prepaid energy meter [102], the payment gateway [107], the billing platform [108], and the administrative interface [109]. The billing platform [108] comprises aggregation software configured to collect data and revenue and monitors the lease status. The recorded data in the prepaid energy meter [102] is transmitted to a utility [105] through the network. The captured consumption data is converted to billable data and sent to the billing platform [108] at the utility [105]. The implementor [104] provides service support to the utility [105] and the service charge [113] is paid by the utility [105] to the implementor [104].

The implementor [104] provides metering services by facilitating leasing them to utilities [105] on a per user connection lease rental per month basis and the prepaid metering service as per user connection per month service charge basis. The charges are combined to a single charge as a per meter per month rental and are debited to revenue collected in escrow account.

The prepaid energy meter [102] records data & tampers, programs tariffs, connects and disconnects resource. The energy prepaid meter [102] is selected from an advanced metering information (AMI) meter/ smart meter or a digital AC static watt hour meter with or without smart card / keypad communication. The payment gateway [107] enables the customers to pay the bills generated by the billing platform [108]. The service provider/implementor [104] outsources the metering service as a plug n play (PnP) solution. The solution relies upon the use of a Smart Meter / AMI meter or Smart Card Based Meter or Keypad Based Meter, which enables real-time communication between the meter and the power distribution company / power grid/utility [105]. The meter [102] houses internal electronics components which ensure the recording of data, recording of tampers, programming of tariffs, connection and disconnection of the power supply. Through the use of the meter [102], the energy and consumption data recorded inside is transmitted (through the use of Radio Frequency Mesh, or Power Line Communication or GPRS or 2G or 3G or 4G or Internet (IP)) to the power distributor/ grid, to a “Head-end System” which captures the energy and consumption data so transmitted and send the data to a “Billing Platform” [108], that converts the energy and consumption data in to billable data and hence revenue would be collected on the basis of this. The entire metering infrastructure runs on a Prepaid Billing System, and needs the support of implementation services for the business solution to work efficiently.

The billing platform [108] uses the aggregated data to convert it in to a billable amount for the utility [105] based on current tariff. The data is transmitted two-way between the prepaid energy meter [102] and the utility [105] through wired or wireless communication through the network. The system [100] offers a host of advantages for the utility [105], and the technology supplier alike. Utility [105] is able to recover the revenue from the installations and pay for the meters in a deferred manner and as a service. The vendor [101] of PrePaid as a service (PPAAS) arranges the finance, selects the technology, runs the project for the utility [105]. Metering technology providers or vendors provide the hardware, communication device to send data from the meter [102] to the aggregation software. The billing platform [108] that would be prepared under the PPAAS model would take the aggregated data and convert it in to a billable amount for the utility as per the prevailing or current tariff.

The payment gateway [107] is accessible through a mobile application or a web platform. The payment gateway [107] is selected from the group consisting of debit/credit card, net banking or mobile wallet or the like. The support service module comprises services selected from the installation, commissioning, transaction management, administrative activities or the like. The utilities [105] and clients/consumer [106] are enabled to monitor and review the paid meter rentals [112] and the remaining loan amount on each meter and review the revenue collected per meter, parameters collected from each meter, and the tamper information collected from each meter. The payment gateway (mobile application and web platform) [107] enables payments of the bills generated by the billing platform [108]. This payment is accessible from any device and allows the consumer to pay through any method i.e. exemplified by credit or debit card, net banking, mobile wallet.

The utility [105] services are selected from the electricity, water, gas or the like. The administrative interface [109] aggregates the data for single meter, entire sub-division, entire division, entire zone, entire city and entire utility for further processing. The point of sale or PoS [110] is either a vendor premises PoS, or any outlet that dispenses the services outside the vendor premises, for e.g. petrol bunk or a retail outlet dispensing the sale of services, configured in the platforms selected from the outside PoS, Web-based transaction platform and application platform or mobile app based transaction platform. The administrative interface [109] would enable the clients to view the lease rentals [112] that have been paid, and the remaining loan amount on each meter [102] (this would be provided to the leasing company [103] as well), the revenue collected per meter, energy parameters collected from each meter [102], and also the tamper information collected from each meter [102].

Figure 2: illustrates a flowchart illustrating the method for providing transaction management of metering service. The method [200] for providing transaction management of metering services comprises the following steps. The prepaid energy meter [102] is selected [201]. The prepaid energy meter [102] is issued and installed [202] at the selected location of interest or the location of the consumer. The prepaid energy meter [102] is financed [203] by the implementor to the vendors [101] and the leasing agency [103]. The energy consumption data is recorded [204] at the consumer end, and transmitted to the utility [105] through a network. A billable data is generated [205] for utility [105]. The consumers [106] are enabled [206] to pay revenue generation on a secure account/escrow account. The recharge or renewal of the prepaid metering service is enabled [207] at a point of sale [110] or transaction platform or exhaustion of the prepaid meter services. The transaction metering services executes the prepaid metering service by leasing to utilities [105] on a per user connection lease rental, per month basis and provide prepaid metering service as a per user connection, per month service charge basis, and the charges are debited to revenue collected in the escrow account.

The Leasing Company (Lessor) [103] bears the cost of the meter [102] - owns the meters and lease it out to the utility [105]. Instead of separate prices for meter [102], software and after sales services, utility [105] can pay a single charge - Lease rentals [112] to the Lessor [103] as a ‘per meter per month’ rental. The Service Provider/ implementor [104] runs the ‘Prepaid as a Service’ and can get Per Transaction Charge from the utility [105]. All revenues from the consumer of prepaid meters are collected in to Escrow Account. The Lease Rentals [112] and Service Charge [113] can be deducted from the Escrow Account.

The per meter per month rental is often a direct derivative of the extent of savings that the Prepaid Metering offers in terms of Reduction in meter reading costs, and reduction in equipment maintenance cost. The rental would also reflect the incremental inflow of income due to interest on revenue deposited at the beginning of the month, due to increased accuracy in measurement, due to variable charges in tariffs (for certain states).

End-to-end Prepaid Metering Services
Pre-paid metering vendors offer meters at feasible prices but a considerable amount of work, which ensures the dependability and efficiency of the prepaid solution depends on how the entire system is implemented on the ground. Hence the vendor can be proposed to carry out the entire gamut of services, for the per meter per month charge. These services would be across the following categories:
• Supply Related
• Transaction Related
• Data storage and supply
• Customer Care
• Administrative Activities
Smart card meter: Communication: through Two way communication smart card that needs to be placed on meter/through NFC or Bluetooth enabled phone. The Real Time Data: Not possible, the technology works on a deferred communication principle. The Payment Method: Largely through Vending system/Online facility possible with NFC or Bluetooth enabled phone. Firmware Up gradation: Needs to happen through physical interventions. Data Storage: Reporting software which gives all the data insights. Alternative Modes: Does support alternative modes like Net Metering. NFC/Bluetooth phone based transactions. Smart Card Transfers relevant parameters to the vending station from meter and vice-versa.

Figure 3 illustrates the operational Methodology of Smart Card Meter. The Consumer on observing the Indication on the meter of low credit/renewal call, shall place the Smart card on the meter (Card fetches all the required parameters) and approach the POS. The Consumer brings the card to PoS(Point of Sale) at the sub-division/division. The same card is charged by the PoS for the required credits (In kwh units)/renewal. The smart card will be placed on the meter back where by credits charged will be transferred to the meter. Hence the process continues.

Prepaid meters can be stored in warehouse of the vendor. The meters are issued and installed for customers from the warehouse and the data is shared instantly. The maintenance can be done as a monthly practice – spare parts can be supplied by vendor. The replacement can be done directly from vendor’s warehouse basis field inspection. The smart card / AMI system ensures that consumers reading is recorded and then conducts transaction. Reading /consumption is converted to bill on the spot.

The following gamut of activities can be outsourced to the vendor:
o Contract Generation
o Recharges
o Renewals
o Contract Settlement
o Bill Generation
o Levying and Collection of Penal charges if any.

The vendor can setup a separate prepaid cell in utility premises or in his own premises. The logs can be shared seamlessly at desired intervals. The vendor’s on-field response team is setup specifically for addressing metering related issues. Point of Sale (PoS) staff / vendor IT staff handles all transaction platform related issues. Logs are shared with utility. The vendor can ensure (though integration of systems) that the data is seamlessly stored and managed in utility systems. The vendor’s field response team can conduct a month end audit for all connections per sub-division. Report / red-flags can be relayed to sub-division / vigilance staff. Though the end-end systems and collated data, the vendor can provide monthly account reconciliation for utility. This can also be done in conjunction with utility corporate office. Vendor’s PoS and on-field response team provides education on prepaid through guidance at PoS and in field, instruction (in booklet / on card) and transaction SMSes / emails. Before commencement of operations in a particular division, vendor provides training on all prepaid metering related aspects.

Keypad meter: Communication: through a keypad 0-9, A, B for entry of n number digit code and access to displays. Real Time Data: Not possible, the technology works on a deferred communication principle. Payment Method: Largely through Vending system/Online facility possible with NFC or Bluetooth enabled phone. The Firmware Up gradation: Needs to happen through physical interventions. The Data Storage: No data storage, all operations are pre-defined in a meter. The Alternative Modes: Does support alternative modes like Net Metering. The NFC/Bluetooth phone based transactions. CIU Transfers relevant parameters to the vending station from meter and vice-versa.

There is no upfront capital cost for the utility to procure the meters – shift from Capital Cost to Opex structure. ‘Pay for what you use’ structure for the utility is provided. The Prepaid only becomes a ‘service’. The Entire gamut of prepaid services can be outsourced as a Plug n Play solution. The Lease rentals can be serviced through revenue collected upfront – rentals can also be taken from consumer (as has been allowed by KERC). The system is an efficient and effective solution for LT-7 sector and Rural areas where meter churn is high and revenue losses need to be plugged. The NBFC / Financier is provided to finance the purchase of the metering equipment. The prepaid meters are need of the hour for all utilities struggling with revenue leakages hence lease rentals can be attractive. The Escrow Account can and ensures that lease rentals are collected on time from the utility. The Leasing company owns the assets and can transfer upon full payment of lease rentals. The consumer has been further directed by the regulators, to furnish rentals on the meter he uses. The service support is required for “Prepaid As A Service” and implementor provides service support to the utility and ensure that the lease rentals are collected. The Implementor arranges terms with equipment manufacturer for the Prepaid Meters to be imported. Non Technical cost is reduced. The outstanding and bill collections time are reduced. The billing Procedure is simplified. The connections and disconnections cost are reduced. The Flexibility on when and how much credits to buy is achieved which results in savings in income.

Financial Advantages for utility
• Reduction in Taxation - Lease Rentals – no effect of CST or VAT (as in the case of direct purchase)
• Significant Reduction in the Capital Costs, in either of the case of:
? No down payment from utility and 100% subsidy from Leasing Co.
? 20% Down payment from utility and 80% subsidy from Leasing Co.
• Prepaid becomes a service rather than an investment.
• Security for PPAAS provider – as all charges are debited to revenue collected in Escrow Account.
Affordability and advantages for utility
• Utility removes revenue leakage through prepaid – revenue in advance.
• Can even collect rental on the meter from the consumer – vide ‘KERC order’.
• Lease and then own – utility can own the meter once the entire lease rental is paid.
• ‘Plug and Play’ solution for the utility – will get Solution (Prepaid), Financing (leasing Co) and Implementation (Service provider). ZERO administrative costs.
Advantages for the financing agency
• Rentals are fixed through a direct order from KERC, hence the lease rentals to the lessor would be assured.
• Lessor can also charge a premium on the meters as the mandatory rental figures would easily be able to cover that.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto, without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention. ,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM:
1. A transaction management system [100] for metering services, comprising:
an energy metering technology provider or vendor [101];
a prepaid energy meter [102];
a leasing agency [103];
a service provider/implementor [104];
atleast one utility [105];
atleast one consumer [106];
a payment gateway [107];
a network;
a billing platform [108];
a support service module; and
an administrative interface [109],
wherein the leasing agency/ lessor [103] owns the prepaid energy meter [102] and leases [111] out to the utilities [105] and lease rents [112] are paid to the leasing agency [103],
wherein the metering technology provider or vendor [101] comprises the PoS or point of sale end [110],
wherein the consumer [106] end comprises the prepaid energy meter [102], the payment gateway [107], the billing platform [108], and the administrative interface [109],
wherein the billing platform [108] comprises an aggregation software configured to collect data and revenue and monitors the lease status,
wherein the recorded data in the prepaid energy meter [102] is transmitted to a utility [105] through the network,
wherein the captured consumption data is converted to billable data and sent to the billing platform [108] at the utility [105],
wherein the implementor [104] provides service support to the utility [105] and the service charge [113] is paid by the utility [105] to the implementor [104],
characterized in that the implementor [104] provides metering services by facilitating leasing them to utilities [105] on a per user connection lease rental per month basis and the prepaid metering service as per user connection per month service charge basis, and
wherein the charges are combined to a single charge as a per meter per month rental and are debited to revenue collected in escrow account.

2. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prepaid energy meter [102] records data & tampers, programs tariffs, connects and disconnects resource.

3. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the energy prepaid meter [102] is selected from an advanced metering information (AMI) meter/ smart meter or a digital AC static watt hour meter with or without smart card / keypad communication.

4. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the payment gateway [107] enables the customers to pay the bills generated by the billing platform [108].

5. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the service provider/implementor [104] outsources the metering service as a plug n play (PnP) solution.

6. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the billing platform [108] uses the aggregated data to convert it in to a billable amount for the utility [105] based on current tariff.

7. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data is transmitted two-way between the prepaid energy meter [102] and the utility [105] through wired or wireless communication through the network.

8. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the payment gateway [107] is accessible through a mobile application or a web platform.

9. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the payment gateway [107] is selected from the group consisting of debit/credit card, net banking or mobile wallet or the like.

10. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support service module comprises services selected from the installation, commissioning, transaction management, administrative activities or the like.

11. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the utilities [105] and clients/consumer [106] are enabled to monitor and review the paid meter rentals [112] and the remaining loan amount on each meter and review the revenue collected per meter, parameters collected from each meter, and the tamper information collected from each meter.

12. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the utility [105] services are selected from the electricity, water, gas or the like.
13. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the administrative interface [109] aggregates the data for single meter, entire sub-division, entire division, entire zone, entire city and entire utility for further processing.

14. The transaction management system [100] for metering services as claimed in claim 1, wherein the point of sale or PoS [110] is configured in the platforms selected from the outside PoS, Web-based transaction platform and application platform or mobile app based transaction platform.

15. A method [200] for providing transaction management of metering services, comprising:
selecting [201] the prepaid energy meter [102];
issuing and installing [202] the prepaid energy meter [102]; and
financing [203] the prepaid energy meter [102] from vendors [101] and leasing agency [103];
recording [204] the energy consumption data, and transmitting to the utility [105] through a network;
generating [205] a billable data for utility [105];
enabling [206] consumers [106] to pay revenue generation on a secure account/escrow account; and
enabling [207] of the recharge or renewal of the prepaid metering service at a point of sale [110] or transaction platform or exhaustion of the prepaid meter services;
characterized in that the transaction metering services executes the prepaid metering service by leasing to utilities [105] on a per user connection lease rental, per month basis and provide prepaid metering service as a per user connection, per month service charge basis, and
wherein the charges are debited to revenue collected in the escrow account.