Inspectors record tampered meters and illegal connections on the phone, with photos before and after the fix, the new seal number and the GPS location. Each finding gets a case number, an estimated loss and a report in the utility’s format. It is part of Utility Revenue Protection.
The problem
An inspector finds a bypassed meter, fixes it and writes it up on paper that evening. The photos are on a personal phone, the case number comes from a register in the office, and the report is typed days later from memory.
When the customer disputes the charge, the file doesn’t show what the meter looked like before the fix, where the photo was taken or which seal went on afterwards. Without that evidence the loss is hard to recover, and repeat cases at the same meter are hard to prove.
How it works
The evidence is collected at the meter, and the report writes itself from it.
The office pastes a list of account numbers from Excel, and each becomes a task on the map.
The inspector photographs the premises on arrival, with the GPS location and time on the photo.
Tampered, illegal connection, internal tampering, faulty, burnt or door locked, with photos of what was found.
Photos after the fix, the new seal number, and whether the supply was restored.
The app requests a case number while the inspector is still on site, one per meter per day.
A tampering or illegal-connection report is built as a PDF, ready for the utility.
Evidence you can use
The meter as it was found and as it was left, each photo stamped with the location, the time and the inspector.
Numbered by type and year in your own format, so tampering and illegal connections each have their own series.
A loss percentage is taken from the kind of tampering found, using a table set up for your contract.
A meter on site that doesn’t match the account on record is flagged for the office.
Tampering and illegal-connection reports as PDFs with Arabic text, downloadable one at a time or in bulk.
Cases by type, by inspector and by area against targets, on a dashboard and in reports sent by email.
What the field link proves
| Paper inspection | Fieldmaster inspection | |
|---|---|---|
| Photos | Paper inspection On the inspector’s own phone, with no location or time. | Fieldmaster inspection Taken in the app, stamped with GPS, time and user. Fake GPS apps are rejected. |
| Case number | Paper inspection Taken from a register in the office, later. | Fieldmaster inspection Issued on site, one per meter per day, in your format. |
| The fix | Paper inspection A line of handwriting. | Fieldmaster inspection After photos, the new seal number and whether supply was restored. |
| The report | Paper inspection Typed up days later. | Fieldmaster inspection Built from the visit record as a PDF in Arabic and English. |
| Repeat cases | Paper inspection Found only if someone remembers the address. | Fieldmaster inspection Every case can be found by account or meter number. |
Part of Utility Revenue Protection
Anti-theft inspections run on the same platform as notices, disconnections and reconnections. A site visit after a disconnection can record an illegal reconnection in the same way, and move the account to the next step.
The same crews can also carry out meter tests, replacements and post-connection inspections, with a supervisor’s approval before a report is released. Electricity and water each have their own forms and rules.
FAQ
Meter tampering is interfering with an electricity, water or gas meter, or its connections, so that it records less than was used. Common forms are bypassing the meter, breaking its seal to alter it, and shorting or reversing connections so that part of the load isn’t measured. It is a form of theft, and utilities count it among their non-technical losses.
The part of a utility’s losses that isn’t explained by the physics of the network: tampered and bypassed meters, illegal connections, faulty meters and billing errors. They are reduced by finding the affected accounts, inspecting them on site and correcting the meter and the bill.
Suspect accounts come from several places: consumption that drops against the account’s history, meter readers who report a broken seal or a bypass, tamper alarms from smart meters, and return visits after a disconnection. An inspector then confirms it on site. Fieldmaster.ai handles that field side: the inspection, the evidence and the report. It also flags readings that are far from an account’s usual consumption during meter reading rounds.
The condition of the meter as found, such as tampered, an illegal connection, internal tampering, faulty or burnt, with photos. Then what the inspector did about it: photos after the fix, the new seal number and whether the supply was restored. Every record carries the GPS location, the time and the inspector’s name.
Each kind of tampering has a loss percentage in a table set up for your contract, for example a set figure when the current on two of three phases was shorted. The app applies it to the case. The utility’s billing team works out the amount to recover from there.
Office staff paste account numbers from Excel, with any complaint or note, and each becomes a task on the map with the customer’s details filled in.
Yes. Details such as the customer name, tariff and tamper date can be corrected in the office, and the report is rebuilt from the corrected record.
Yes. Water inspections have their own form, including a step for restoring a tampered meter, and their own reports.
Yes. The visit, photos and seal numbers are saved on the phone and sync when the connection returns. The case number is issued once the phone is back online.
A typical app is live in 10 to 18 working days. Your conditions, case number format, loss table and report layout are set up to match the utility’s requirements.
