Over the last few days I have been reading about the problems residents in Goa face regarding incorrect billing for electricity/ water meters. As nearly everyone in Goa has a mobile (there are more mobiles than even toilets across the country), the department could get people to register their mobile numbers against their consumer number. Once this is done, the resident can send the meter reading to the department from his registered mobile no.
The department raises bills as per the consumption. The department need not send a meter reader every month, but say once in 3/6 months. This will ensure that residents get bills based on actual consumption. This system is followed by MGL (Mahanagar Gas Nigam Ltd.) in Bombay and has been found to be very effective even when nobody is at home to open the door for the meter reader.
