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Hescom to resume all BBPS payment of bills via apps soon -tariff hike from June

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By uday

The Hubballi Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) has announced, Effective March 18, 2023, HESCOM has discontinued all online payments through BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System) apps. As a result, customers can now only make payments through the HESCOM website. Unfortunately, this means that the convenience of using UPI apps such as Gpay, Phonepe, CRED, Paytm, etc. is no longer available, and customers must now navigate through a series of steps on the website to make their payments.

Now, if all goes well in the next 5-6 days one should be able to pay the bills via the apps.

For the past two months, consumers were asked to make payments by logging into the HESCOM website, which proved to be inconvenient for many who were used to paying bills using UPI payment apps. As a result, consumers demanded the resumption of the UPI-based payment system.

According to sources in HESCOM, the online payment service was not stopped. However, due to a lapsed tender, the UPI payment service provider, Bank of Baroda, asked HESCOM to pay three times the payment for the extension of their service. Paying triple rates to the bank to avail of the service would cause a financial burden on HESCOM.

HESCOM tried to tie up with other service providers, but due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), they could not.

Therefore, resuming UPI payment was delayed for nearly two months. Now, a work order has been issued to Airtel Bank, which is working on it. The UPI payment service will start in another 5-6 days, and consumers can pay their electricity bills like before.

Tariff Hike –

Following the recent elections, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has approved a hike in electricity bills. The ESCOMS had initially requested an increase of 139 paise per unit, but KERC has limited it to 70 paise. This new tariff will take effect from May 1st and will be reflected in electricity bills.

It is important to note that this increase in electricity bills may have an impact on consumers’ budgets. 

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