Jaideep Shenoy/The Hindu

• One is at Attavar in Mangalore, another at Maruthi Veethika, Udupi
• Company plans to install a kiosk at Hampankatta
• About 300 people are availing the facility

Mangalore, Feb 8: People having to stand in long queues outside section offices of Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd. to pay their bills will soon become a thing of the past, with the company opening alternative channels of payment. As a result, the pressure on section offices is getting reduced.

The company has opened “anytime payment” (ATP) kiosk at its first sub-division in Attavar here and city sub-division at Maruthi Veethika in Udupi. It has plans to install kiosks at Hampankatta in Mangalore and at the district headquarters of Chikmagalur and Shimoga. It is scouting for a suitable place for the ATP at Hampankatta.

S Sumanth, managing director of Mescom, told The Hindu here on Thursday that the company was assessing the impact of these anytime payment kiosks on its revenue collection. “Introduction of two ATPs at Attavar and Udupi is helping about one lac consumers, including 64,000 in Attavar sub-division.

At present, the ATPs have been programmed to accept cash from consumers,” he said.

“Once the ATP kiosk is commissioned at Hampankatta, the consumers of the sub-divisions at Attavar, Kavoor and Nehru Maidan can pay their bills at the two ATPs in the city. People coming to the heart of the city invariably touch Hampankatta and that is why we are particular about the location of ATP there,” Sumanth said.

Stating that these machines had been specially ordered from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Accel Transmatic, he said the company might incur Rs 5 on every bill collected through ATPs.

“If the public response is good, then Mescom will consider installing these machines at places where revenue collection is high,” he said.

M Jayasurya, executive engineer, Udupi sub-division, said: “Consumer response to the kiosk has been good with around 300 people paying their bills at the kiosk, daily.”