Mumbai: Now BEST consumers can pay electricity bills by scanning QR code

The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, which continues to make technological advancements to enhance the consumer experience, launched a dynamic QR code system for bill payment systems on Thursday. With the new initiative, electricity consumers will simply have to scan the QR code using apps such as Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Bhim, PhonePe etc. The bill details along with the amount to be paid will appear on the screen after which the consumer has to press the ‘pay’ tab that will complete the payment. Consumers can make their payments by using QR codes printed on their e-bills.

“The details of payment will appear on the screen and the consumer will also receive an intimation via SMS. The entire payment process can be completed in a few seconds. QR code-based payment is more efficient, less time-consuming, error-free, more secure and tamper-proof,” said an official of BEST, adding at present it has around 10.5 lakh electricity consumers across the city. Of these nearly 70 per cent use digital payment methods to pay their bills.

“QR code is a two-dimensional barcode that contains information like contact details, a website link, payment information and more. For users, it’s a faster and more streamlined experience than typing in a website URL because they can access the contained information and scan it. Adopting QR codes allows customers to pay with their preferred digital wallets by pointing their phone at a code. This removes friction from the overall customer journey and bridges the gap between the real and the virtual worlds,” the official added.

Earlier, BEST consumers who wanted to make bill payments online were required to download an app and create their IDs by filling in details like consumer number and contact number etc. At the time of payment of bills, they needed to log in by using their Id and password, which usually took more than one minute. Sometimes they also faced server issues, but in new systems, anyone can pay the bill without creating Ids. Apart from that, there is no need to download any App.

“We are constantly trying to provide better services to our customers. The introduction of QR code system will definitely reduce the bill payment time. Payment can be also made by scanning QR code at the bill counters,” said Lokesh Chandra, general manager, BEST. He added that we aim to take the number of consumers paying through digital mode to 80 per cent.