Over 66 per cent electricity consumers of the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking opted for the digital mode to pay their power bills. Sustained initiatives by BEST led its consumers to adapt to the digital interface, officials said. By October this year, of the total 6.81 lakh payments received, 4.5 lakh were made through digital payment modes.
According to the data provided by the BEST, in comparison to September, 32,492 more people took the digital route to pay their electricity bills in October. The undertaking aims to encourage
100 per cent of its consumers to go digital. For this, it has made persistent efforts to create awareness to switch from cash or cheque payments to digital interface.
A senior official said online bill payment not only saves time, it is also beneficial for the BEST. He added that online mode is also more ecofriendly as it is a paperless transaction. “To encourage digitisation, we launched a lucky draw scheme to reward one electricity consumer from each ward every month,” said a senior officer of BEST, adding that till the date 27 electricity consumers, who switched to online mode for bill payments, have been rewarded with attractive prizes. The scheme was launched in September.
The prizes include washing machines, refrigerators, dinner sets, food processors, mixer-grinders and gadgets like mobile phones. In addition, BEST has also decided to give Rs 10 per person as incentive to its consumers, who motivated other consumers to adopt the digital mode for payment. For enrolling in this incentive, a form is available on BEST website, which consumers need to fill with relevant details, including their bank details.
“We hope our initiative will help us achieve our goal of 100 per cent digitisation,” said Lokesh Chandra, BEST general manager.
