Indore: Come March 20, you will be able to pay electricity bills by scanning UPI QR code printed on the bill from your mobile phone. In a first in the state, the Western Region Power Distribution Company Ltd (west discom) is going to provide QR code facility for payment of electricity bills from this month itself. QR code will be printed on the electricity bills. By scanning the code using mobile phone, the customer will be able to pay electricity bill online.
According to west discom officials, the QR code linked to Bharat Bill Payment will be printed on the electricity bills. The customers can scan the QR code using mobile app and pay their bills without hassle. The west discom is going to be the first power distribution company in the state to introduce QR code facility.
The initiative came following instructions by the Central government to all enterprises having a turnover of over Rs 50 crore to provide facilities for accepting payments through prescribed electronic modes.
The Finance (No.2) Act, 2019, had introduced Section 269 SU, which required every person/enterprise with a business turnover, sales or gross receipts exceeding Rs 50 crore to mandatorily provide facilities for accepting payments through prescribed electronic modes.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) with notification dated, December 30, 2019, prescribed three such electronic modes, which needs to be introduced from January 1. The prescribed electronic modes of payment include debit card powered by RuPay, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) (BHIM-UPI) and UPI QR Code.
The notification stated that the person/enterprise who fails to offer the prescribed modes by January 31 would be subjected to a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day with effect from February 1. All the power distribution companies of the state fall under this category. About 1 crore consumers in the state will benefit from the new facility. No fee will be imposed for new facility. In fact, those who will opt for it will get refund of Rs 5 to Rs 20.
