Soon, pay water bills by netbanking

After the introduction of online as well as electronic clearance system (ECS) for payment of water bills, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has initiated the process of enabling a full-fledged netbanking facility to enable customers to pay water supply and sewerage charges more easily.

The Board also proposes to include gateway charges and penalty in case of delayed payment.

BWSSB chairman T M Vijay Bhaskar told Deccan Herald that the option of paying through credit or debit cards as well as ECS had received a good response.

However, payment through net-banking was not possible. Hence, we have asked an agency to work out the modalities in co-ordination with our engineers. Once completed, we will introduce netbanking option in our website for public use soon, he said.

At present, about 85,000 consumers have logged in to mybwssb.org website to make online payment, while about three lakh consumers use electronic clearance system for the same. Of the total eight lakh water connections, the others use kiosks and BengaluruOne centres to pay the tariff, a BWSSB official said.

The Board also plans to include gateway charge of two per cent based on the transaction amount.

Service charge
“When consumers use either credit / debit card to make the payment, the issuing bank levies a service charge. Presently, these charges were borne by the Board. After enabling net-banking facility, consumers who choose online mode will have to pay the service charge,” R Ramanna, financial advisor of BWSSB said. The BWSSB has plans to tie up with more banks to increase patronage of online services, as it is liked by many in the City.

Another BWSSB official said the Board is contemplating to levy penalty on consumers who make delayed payment of bills, on the lines of mobile service providers and Bescom.