A mobile way to pay your bills in time

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of expanding M-governance in various sectors, mobile phone technology services will be extended to government departments to provide details of bill payments,   reminders to pay bills on time and make payments through phones.Kerala Water Authority, Kerala State Electricity Board and Kerala State Financial Corporation  will introduce the facility.The bill details of consumers will be available on their mobile phones along with reminder SMS about the date of payment.Kerala IT Mission has developed the portal for these departments and the service will be available soon.KSFC will also provide SMS alerts to ensure that the payments of chitty are made on time.IT Mission director Shajahan said that mobile service delivery platform is ready to be launched. The SMS facility will also provide information on the bill details on demand.The role of M-governance is not to replace or substitute the existing system but only to act as a supplement to e-governance. It will be helpful in bridging the digital divide, particularly in the rural areas.He pointed out that due to its mobility and network infrastructure, mobiles can reach areas where there is no Internet or fixed lines.Usage of mobile devices is fairly simple thus making it easy for people to use it and access information they need.There will also be a facility to pay the bills through mobile phones.  Bills up to `5,000 could be paid through phones without going to government offices.The SMS-based information services are already in place for motor vehicles department where details of the vehicle could be accessed if the registration number is known.Fancy number availability, booking status of particular number, permit status and tax calculator are also available.The service delivery platform has been integrated with the billing platform of KWA. The services available are bill details, payment details, meter details and water tariff details.A complaint registration system at Kerala Women’s Commission, bus timings of KSRTC, mobile ticket reservation at Kerala State Film Development Corporation theatres, timber auction alerts at Forest Department and helpline and information system for Sabarimala pilgrims have already been introduced.