Bescom ties up with SBI

State Bank of India has signed an agreement with Bescom (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company), enabling consumers in the Bangalore region to pay their monthly power bills through the SBI's ATM network across India.

This agreement will be in due course extended to customers of associate banks of SBI such as State Bank of Mysore.

Bescom expects the tie-up to accelerate and hopes that close to 15 per cent of the Rs 400-crore monthly income will be channelled through this network.

Said Mahapara Ali, CGM, SBI Bangalore circle: "Our tie-up with Bescom is for the convenience of SBI customers, where they will not have to wait in long queues for paying their electricity bills anymore. This is an addition to our various other services such as online bill payment besides a host of other customer-friendly initiatives we are rolling out."

Bescom on its part is taking this initiative in addition to its ECS offering and AnyTime Bill Payment kiosks through which it collects close to 10 per cent of the monthly income.

"We are adopting many measures to make bill payment easier. The tie-up with SBI, with its largest network of ATMs in the country, is another step in that direction," said B L Meena, chairman, Bescom.

Commenting on the electricity supply scenario in Bangalore, Meena said that there would be a 15-20 per cent shortage in the supply for the summer season of 2008. "We are in talks with various generating companies and let's see how we can manage the situation," Meena added.