KSEB’s billing set up goes haywire, consumers unable to pay bills

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Power consumers in the state have been left in the lurch with the online billing software Oruma, developed by Kerala State Electricity Board, going haywire.

The helpline of the KSEB and the section offices are flooded with complaints and grievances from the consumers who are unable to pay the bills.

The KSEB has around one crore consumers, of which around 2000 depend on the online facility daily.

Many such consumers are also unable to make the payment or view the bill and are facing the threat of disconnection.

The KSEB officials say that the approval of bulk bills and single bills are not being done properly by the billing software.

“I couldn’t make the payment online and couldn’t view the bill too. And I tried to make the payment at the counter but I was told my bill has not been generated and was asked to approach the section office,” said S. Arun, a consumer residing near Vellayambalam.

According to KSEB officials, the problem arose after the IT wing under the KSEB started efforts to centralise the billing system.

“We have around 14,000 consumers under Vellayambalam section and nearly 7000 consumers are unable to pay the Bill properly since the authorities centralised the billing system,” said the official.

IT wing executive engineer J. Sathyarajan said that around 155 of the total 748 section in the state had been brought under the centralised billing software.

He admitted that the billing software encountered issues following the introduction of the new tariff revision.

“Oruma is a very efficient and successful billing software and we have fixed almost all the issues. Currently, only 1500 consumers are facing problems and we will fix it very soon.

There are only manageable issues,” said Mr Sathyarajan. However, section offices are facing the heat because of the software glitches.