PANJIM/CURCHOREM: Goa Electricity Department will launch the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) facility, a comprehensive integrated bill payment facility in Goa, at Hotel Mandovi-Panjim on January 26.
A press statement issued by GED informed that BBPS is an integrated bill payment system in the country that offers inter-operable and accessible bill payment services to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation on receipt of payment. It is a fully sophisticated, digitized form of utility bill transactions system which receives bill amount from consumers and updates the database of the biller.
The department further said that presently collection facilities available to the consumers are physical counters in 34 sub-divisions of the Department in cash/cheque/draft, ATPM machines operated at 5 locations throughout Goa, payment through SBI gateway from website and mobile app, collection of payment by 390 co-operative societies throughout Goa. With the present facilities, around 20 percent of payments are by e-payment, 30 percent by ATPM and rest through the co-operative societies/banks, etc.
“With the introduction of BBPS, except for Departmental counters, rest of the collections will be through digital mode and will include transactions by cash, drafts, etc. The consumers will have the convenience to pay from anywhere in India and at any time using this platform through participatory banks,” the press statement stated.
M/s TJSB Bank is the operating unit for GED under BBPS. Online electricity bills payment through various other modes such as BHIM, IMPS, mobile banking, net banking, etc is also possible through BBPS.
The consumers will also be benefited by the extension of departmental cash counter timing from the present 10 am – 12.30 pm to the new extended timings of 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm to 4.30 pm.
Speaking during the inauguration of hot-mixing work at Kakoda-Curchorem near industrial estate on Wednesday, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral said, “Even we can think of giving this facility to mobile recharge centres.
He informed that ATM like machines would be installed at all the electricity department offices throughout the State where consumers can pay their bills by cash or debit cards which will remain open 24 hours.
“If any official asks to bring service wire, meters to give new connections and if not provided within one or two months; streetlights are not functioning; fuse, transformer boxes at public places remain open dangerously, SMS me with name, location and I will take action,” Cabral assured and informed that underground cabling would be done throughout the State once the estimate done.
