Rent is not the only number
In many Indian PGs and flats, the tenant pays a fixed rent plus electricity. The meter is read at month end. Units get multiplied by a rate. That extra is argued over because last month’s reading lived in a chat, a notebook, or nowhere. The rent sheet says “paid.” The electricity sheet is a photo of a meter.
An electricity rent tracker keeps the reading on the same tenant as the rent. RentVelo lets you log readings and add the extra to the month you are collecting.
What you need to record
- Previous reading — so units are not guessed from memory.
- Current reading — taken when you visit or when the tenant sends a photo.
- Rate — rupees per unit you agreed, or a share of the common bill.
- The month — electricity for May should sit on May rent, not vanish into “misc.”
When the extra is on the same month as rent, the PDF rent receipt can reflect what was actually due — rent plus units — instead of a second informal message.
Why a second notebook fails
A dedicated electricity notebook works until someone skips a month, a tenant changes rooms, or you manage more than one building. Then you have readings without names. WhatsApp photos have no previous reading. The argument is always the same: “last month was already included.”
Attaching the reading to the tenant in a rent management app is the boring fix. You are not building an energy-billing product. You are closing the month without a fight.
Common-meter buildings
Some buildings have one BESCOM or state-board meter and a split among rooms. RentVelo is not a utility company. You still decide the split. The app’s job is to store the number you assigned that tenant for that month, next to rent, so collection and the receipt stay consistent.
When you need heavier software
If you run a large hostel with prepaid meters and automatic cut-off, look at energy-management hardware. If you have a few flats or a PG and you read the meter yourself, a phone-first electricity rent tracker inside RentVelo is enough: reading in, extra on the month, receipt out.
Log this month’s reading on your phone
Download RentVelo and keep electricity next to rent instead of in a second notebook.
