EB Payment In ECS - CCC Appealed
The Coimbatore Consumer Cause has appealed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to accept the current consumption charge payments through Electronic Clearance Service (ECS). In a memorandum to the board, the consumer organisation secretary K. Kathirmathiyon said that the electricity board was one of the organisations with a large number of consumers. Almost all the consumers should remit the current consumption charges once in two months or monthly. Remittance through counters at the EB offices was time consuming and the workload on the staff also went up. Even during the first few days to remit the charges, the counters were crowded and in some cases, the staff refused to accept more than one card at a time.
Though the white meter card had a note that consumers could make the payment through the assessor when they note the meter reading at the consumers’ place, it was not accepted. Further, the assessors were unable to issue any receipt /acknowledgement slip. Hence, the board should provide alternative methods such as internet payment or ECS.
Welcoming the board’s proposal to provide online payment facility, Mr. Kathirmathiyon said that this could take time for implementation and the consumer should have a credit or debit card and internet facility. Hence, payment through ECS should be permitted at the earliest. This service could be availed of by many consumers who had a bank account. Several bank employees were getting their salary through the ECS. The facility would reduce the crowd at the counters and the stress on the board’s staff. The amount could be credited directly to the board’s account by the consumer on a particular date. Service providers such as insurance, credit card and telephone were even offering discounts for those who want to pay through the ECS.
