State to start online payment for electricity bills

The Orissa government will introduce online payment system for the payment of electricity bills in the state from 1 January 2010. It will be the first state in the country to introduce such a system across the state, sources said.

Though states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have introduced such a system for electricity consumers in the urban areas, the neighbouring West Bengal has introduced this system for the rural consumers in a restricted way.

The power distribution companies in Orissa namely Wesco, Nesco, Southco and CESU are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) in this regard soon.

 

Sources said, the citizen centric gateway ‘Orissa online’ developed by OCAC would be utilised for rendering this service. It would act as the technical platform for online payment of electricity bills.

Under the plan, both the power distribution companies and the Common Service Centres (CSCs) will be connected with ‘OCAC’ gateway after signing of the MoU.

It will be launched in more than 4000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) which have been made operational in various locations of the state.

While the power distribution companies were not able to collect electricity bills from every nook and corner of the state earlier, the proposed system will facilitate payment of electricity bills at the nearest CSCs. “Though the system will facilitate online payment of electricity bills, this will have far reaching impact on the total energy management”, an official associated with the process said.