• More than 1,700 consumers pay water bills online since its launch on June 28
• Bills can still be paid at 16 Vani Vilas Water Works Service Centres

Mysuru: After years of procrastination, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) that has finally embraced technology, enabling water consumers to pay bills online, has got a shot in the arm as the new system has been well-received by consumers. Instead of standing in long queues, consumers are paying water bills at the click of mouse or at the press of a button — a paradigm shift from Physical to Digital Mode. 

The online system that was implemented on June 28, 2019 has seen more than 1,700 consumers paying the bills. Though there are over 1,50,000 water connections in Mysuru city, 1,700 consumers paying the bills online within a month is encouraging. Buoyed by this, the MCC will soon extend the online facility for the payment of Property Tax too. 

From June 28, the MCC has collected Rs.14.5 lakh as water bill revenue that has been directly credited to MCC SBI account. The online payment facility is in addition to the 16 Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW) Service Centres including the MysoreOne and KarnatakaOne Centres, where consumers can pay bills in person. 

The digital payment facility has been launched through Bharat Bill Payment Systems (BBPS) of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The system facilitates consumers to pay bills through online banking, debit or credit card, digital wallets or payment apps such as SBI Yono, Mobikwik, Bhim, PhonePe and Paytm.  

Those wanting to pay online bills must visit the MCC website www.mysorecity.mrc.gov.in and click on the tab ‘Click here for online payment of water bill’. They will be guided to the BBPS webpage which gives them the option of making the payment through various banks and apps. When they choose their respective banks, they have to choose the biller category as ‘Water’ and Biller Name as ‘Mysuru City Corporation’ from the drop-down menu.

They need to enter their Consumer Number and make the payment. MCC officials said that looking at the number of payments in one month after the facility was launched without much fanfare, in the coming days more and more people will opt for the digital facility. “We need to create more awareness and give wide publicity. Once the online system is fully implemented, it will save a lot of manpower to the already short-staffed MCC,” an official said.

The officer said that all banks have payment gateways and a lot depends on the user interface of the banks opted by consumers. Most of the online payments received so far are from users who opted for net banking and a majority of online users are youths, the officer added.

In case the payment is not made despite the consumer’s bank account being debited with the amount, the consumers can lodge a complaint with their UTR (Unique Transaction Reference) Number and Consumer Number. Drop boxes are kept at all 16 VVWW Service Centres. All issues will be sorted out within a 24-hour window period. “Even if the water bill is lost, the bill can be tracked once the consumer enters the Consumer Number on the portal,” said the officer. 

Difficulty in navigating digital payment?

In the event of the consumers finding it difficult to navigate the digital payment process, they can contact MCC’s Control Room (0821-2418800 or 2418816). 

The MCC is also collecting consumer data through Google forms on its website. After collecting the consumer’s name, number, address and mobile number, VVWW sends monthly bills through SMS alerts. The alerts also include a link to BBPS website for making online payment online. Encouraged by the response to online water bill payment, the MCC will soon introduce online system for Property Tax. “The process to create the Property Tax software is on and the facility will be open soon,” said a senior officer.