Board to ease bill payment

People queue up to pay electricity bills in Shillong on Monday. Telegraph picture
Shillong, July 12 : The Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd is exploring the possibility of introducing prepaid energy meters to ease the burden on consumers, stung by criticism for the lack of innovation in saving them from the hassle of standing in long queues to pay electricity bills.
Similar to prepaid mobile cards, a prepaid energy meter enables power corporations to gather energy bills from the consumers prior to the usage of power by delivering only as much as what has been paid for.
In March this year, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd launched prepaid electricity meters in Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Kalyan, Kolhapur, Mahabaleshwar, Matheran and Chikhaldara.
“We are also exploring the possibility of introducing prepaid energy meters in the state to unburden the consumers. The system will also plug the loopholes in metering and payment,” a senior official of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd said today.
He said the amount of energy to be credited to the meter of a consumer would depend on the prepaid card bought by the customer.
However, considering that the idea of introducing prepaid energy meters will still take some time, the corporation is in the process of putting in place franchisees in the different districts of the state.
“In Jaintia Hills, the franchisee system is in full swing and has proven to be very successful. The franchisee hands over the bill prepared by the corporation to the households and also collects the amount on behalf of the corporation. However, there is no additional burden on the consumers. Payments to the franchisee are made from the corporation’s coffers,” the official added.
He said the process of introducing the franchisee system is on in East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi and the three Garo hills districts.
According to him, there are around 2,70,000 energy consumers in the state, of whom nearly 80 per cent are domestic users.
“We have discovered that the franchisee system is people-friendly and consumers are also pleased with the service,” the official claimed.
On why consumers are burdened with long queues every time they visit a revenue collection centre, the official said the basic problem is that a majority of the customers wait until the due date before making payments.
Long queues at collection centre just opposite the state secretariat have become an eyesore in this day and age of Internet and mobile banking.
“At present, we do not have the facility of Internet banking. Moreover, only major consumers like industries are given the opportunity to pay directly through banks,” the official said.
According to the corporation’s website, Rs 28 lakh was collected as revenue till December 2010.