A first: e-water bills introduced in Mohali

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 20

In a first, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) on Friday introduced e-bills for its water consumers in Mohali.

In a bid to put the general public at ease, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will extend the facility to residents of all urban estates across the state from next month.

The pilot project was launched on Friday from Sector 78 in Mohali, where residents were handed over the electronically generated water bills.

GMADA Chief Administrator Ravi Bhagat said the initiative would be of great help to the residents as they would be no more required to make rounds to government offices to deposit water bills.

Divulging details of the mechanism, Bhagat said employees of the authorities concerned on visiting the house would calculate the amount and deliver the electronically generated bill to the consumer by giving the print out with the help of a handy thermal printer, which they would be carrying.

The consumer simultaneously will receive an SMS regarding the delivery of the bill along with a unique link by visiting which he/she would be able to make the payment through the online gateway system.

In the second phase of the facility, which would be rolled out from the next billing cycle, a mobile app would be made available in the public domain.

“After installing the app on their mobile phones, consumers would be able to generate the bill on their own by scanning the water meter and generating a QR code. Details pertaining to the bill would be made available on the mobile phone, enabling the consumer to make payment either online or by visiting the office,” he added.

Tech-savvy move

Additional Chief Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Vini Mahajan, said the department was making every possible use of the modern day technology to provide various services at the doorsteps of its consumers. The facility will be beneficial to the public as they would be saved of their time and money as they would not be required to visit offices to deposit water bills. The effort would also help the department in generating revenue as it would provide details of those who had not made the payment of the bill, thus issuing instructions to them to deposit the bill amount, she said.

“The facility has been introduced in Mohali on Friday and next month onwards, e-bills will be delivered in all urban estates of the state,” said Mahajan.

Private players

The e-water bill service has been developed by a Ludhiana-based private firm while the HDFC Bank has also been roped in to provide pan Punjab services in execution of the service.

Initiative will be of great help: Official

GMADA Chief Administrator Ravi Bhagat said the initiative would be of great help to the residents as they would be no more required to make rounds to government offices to deposit water bills. The pilot project was launched on Friday from Sector 78 in Mohali, where residents were handed over the electronically generated water bills.