Power companies embrace e-commerce

In a bid to cut costs and enhance customer experience, power companies in India like CESC — the Rs 4,200 crore RPG Group flagship — and Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) — which distributes power in Greater Noida — have started focusing on e-commerce and e-procurement.

Analysts point out that through e-procurement, organisations can save up to 20 per cent on goods and services purchased via automated purchasing processes.

NPCL, for instance, has appointed e-Procurement Technologies as a service provider to conduct online reverse auctions. It is exploring new avenues to procure power from alternative sources and supplement the current intake arrangement so as to meet the increase in load demand in the short and medium terms, said a company spokesperson.

CESC, on its part, is renewing its foray into e-commerce and e-procurement by using its revamped website as the platform. Relaunched after 10 years, the website wll extend the online transaction opportunities for consumers, shareholders and business partners.

The new website has already seen 21,000 hits so far. CESC’s backend customer relationship management (CRM) system comprising millions of consumers, power plants, distribution points and thousands of kilometres of power lines have been integrated with the backend interactive voice response (IVR) facility to monitor its network and work with stakeholders easily.

Debashis Roy, vice-president — IT of CESC, told Business Standard: “We have completely revamped our website because we wanted to make it more consumer-friendly as well as add a section for other stakeholders.”

CESC is adding 250mw power plant in the Kolkata area and was close to finalising power projects at Haldia port (West Bengal), Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar. “The revamped website will be our gateway for e-procurement and the plan to expand the e-commerce space. For instance, now most regular vendors are using this platform to submit tenders. The website also enables the e-tendering process. This not only convenient for business partners but also helps in procurement of a long list of items through the online gateway, thereby bringing overall operational costs down and minimising paperwork,” Roy added.

For consumers, the company has already enabled the facility to view and print barcoded bills via email. The website has also added power saving and power consumption guidelines to help consumers calculate electricity consumption and get a sense of bill that could be generated at the end of the month.