Panaji, Feb 5 (TOI): Days after the government launched a new “integrated bill payment system” for consumers, serpentine queues, spilling onto the street were seen at the electricity department counters in the state.
While senior citizens waited in queue for more than one hour to make cash payments, other consumers wasted almost two hours trying to make payments at the department’s Vidyut Bhavan in Panaji.
The rush at the department’s counters was a result of its order asking cooperative banks to stop accepting bill payments manually from February 1 and to switch over to the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
Some cooperative societies have registered under BBPS, others are in transition phase while still others are only in talks.
At its counter at Panaji Vidyut Bhavan, only two staff were accepting bills, managing both the cash, cheque and senior citizens queues leaving consumers frustrated. Another large queue was seen at the anytime payment machine.
Forced to intervene after consumers protested, the department staff who were ill informed showed consumers a list of banks registered and told them to call and “confirm” on their own whether they have begun accepting bill payments. An official from TJSB bank put up a banner with a list of authorized banks around 12:30 pm at the entrance of the department’s in Panaji.
“I have been paying at the cooperative society near by house for the past ten years but today they put up a sign saying they would not accept payments. I spent one and a half hour here,” one consumer told TOI.
Especiosa D’Souza, a senior citizen from Calangute criticized the new system saying consumers had not been informed about the system.
“The earlier system of paying bills by cash was much better as people would get a receipt of cash received. With this system common people find it difficult to know the amount remitted to the electricity department” she said.
Another senior citizen from Porvorim also opined that no queues were witnessed under the earlier system when cooperative societies were accepting bill payments. “When the due date is approaching, the department must set up more counters so that people are not inconvenienced. I waited for one hour. If we miss the due date we will have to pay a fine. I don’t know how to go online and pay my bill,” a senior citizen from St Inez said.
Meanwhile consumers who tried to pay bills online through the department’s website haven’t been able to make payments and are receiving messages stating there is a technical glitch.
Chief electrical engineer Reshma Mathew told TOI that the transition into BBPS is being undertaken under the RBI guidelines and will take time. “There are around 500 collection centres but people are not aware of them. Despite telling people to pay their bills online they insist on coming to the department to pay them,” she told TOI, adding that the cooperative societies were given two months’ time to register under BBPS.
Additional counters will be set up at department offices in Panaji, Mapusa, Ponda, Vasco and Margao she said, adding that counter timings have been extended to 4:30 in the evening.
Regional head of TJSB Bank Arun Bhat told TOI that the issues being faced by consumers are only short term and will be resolved.