Tamil Nadu’s power utility Tangedco (Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd) is showing the way for the electricity utilities in the country in terms of digital payments.
About half of its LT (low tension) consumers are expected to use digital payment modes in the next two years, up from about 28 per cent now. In March alone, more than three lakh consumers have used net banking facilities to pay their power charges.
Central push
“The Central government has been asking us to drive payments to alternate/digital channels. We expect about 50 per cent of LT consumers to use alternate payment modes in the next two years,” M Manoharan, Director-Finance, Tangedco, said at an event organised by Bharat BillPay to announce the on-boarding of Tangedco through Indian Overseas Bank for bill payments.
He said that with increasing adoption of alternate pay channels, the default levels had also come down to three per cent from five per cent earlier. Tangedco has about 2.79 crore consumers, of which LT consumers are about 2.5 crore.
“The major driver is our SMS system, under which registered consumers get alerts on charges and due dates. This has helped many to make payments on time,” he added.
However, 30-40 per cent of the LT consumers of Tangedco across the State are yet to get their mobile numbers registered with the power utility. If most of the people get themselves registered, the share of digital payments is expected to go significantly in quick time.
Collection centres
Manoharan also said that the burden of having a high number of collection centres would come down with increasing share of alternate payment mode.
It is at present operating 5,000 collection points in 3000 offices across the State.
He also said that with Bharat BillPay, Tangedco consumers would have a convenient, safe and secure option to pay their bills.