Indian Overseas Bank enables Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to save INR100 crores through digitization of Electricity Bill collections

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          Indian Overseas Bank has played a pivotal role in digitising the Bills Collections of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO), the power distribution arm  of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

          Indian Overseas Bank is a Chennai based bank with over 1150 branches across India.  Indian Overseas Bank has strong roots in Tamil Nadu.

          The primary focus of Indian Overseas Bank was on overseas banking and foreign exchange operations. In 1937, Thiru.M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar established the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to encourage overseas banking and foreign exchange operations. IOB started up simultaneously at three branches, one each in Karaikudi, Madras, and Rangoon (Yangon). It quickly opened a branch in Penang, Kuala Lumpur (1937 or 1938), and another in Singapore (1937 or 1941). The bank served the Nattukottai Chettiars, who were a mercantile class that at the time had spread from Chettinad in Tamil Nadu state to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), Malaya, Singapore, Java, Sumatra, and Saigon.

          A brief history of Nattukottai Chettiars can be read here.

          TANGEDCO has over 1.60 crores bill paying customers and currently 45lacs customers pay their bills through the Digital mode.  TANGEDCO Director Finance, Shri M Manoharan and team are working towards the conversion target of 1 crore customers to digital payments.

          Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) flashed the green flag for payments through Bharat BillPay on Monday, the state body said it expects to migrate about 50 per cent of Low Tension (LT) customers to payment methods like net banking and online payments.

Low Tension bill payers are usually customers who consume electricity units for their residential property or for the functioning of smaller commercial sites like shops.

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“The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) is the first state body to be on-boarded to Bharat BillPay. TNEB witnesses the highest number of customers paying their electricity bill through alternate payments. Only in the last month, net banking payments through Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank scored the maximum number of hits, churning more than `61 crore income to TNEB,” said M Manoharan, Director Finance, TANGEDCO.
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          At present, TANG customers have 10 Bill Payment options.

01)  TANGEDCO Section Office Counters

02) E-seva centers of GoTN

03) Select Post Office counters

04) Bank Counters of City Union Bank(CUB), Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB),

05) Mobile apps of City Union Bank(CUB), Karur Vysya Bank(KVB) and Indian Bank(INB),

06) ATM of TamilNad Mercantile Bank

07) Through TANGEDCO website www.tangedco.gov.in

08) Internet Banking – Direct Debit of Bank Accounts

09) Internet – Payment Gateway – Any Master/Visa/RuPay Card

10)  Internet – Debit Card

As consumers ditch the trip to electricity bill payment offices and opt for alternative modes of payment, the state electricity board is looking forward  to reduce the number of collection centres operational across the state from 5,000 to 2,000 in a period of two years, thereby saving nearly INR120 crore.

Mind boggling isn’t it?

Each TANGEDCO collection centre is manned by 2 operators, with 2 PCs linked to Billing server, 2 printers, minimum 1 Fan, couple of chairs and tables. Now, as the footfalls to the TANG collection counters are falling down, the staff will be redeployed.

The other major benefit of Digital collection of bills is the falling delinquency rate. TANG has observed that customers tend to pay bills in time, if they have easy n reliable payment options. TANGEDCO has been able to reduce Payment defaults five per cent to three per cent as a result of online payments and SMS reminders.

Digitisation of Bill collections has also led to better funds flow to TANGEDCO coffers, as customers tend to pay their bills before the due date.

 The key gain of TANGEDCO joining Bharat Bill Payment platform is the facility for its customers to pay the bills without any additional service charges and also get cashback







The below is the cautionary message displayed on TNEB website
“ KIND ATTENTION LT ELECTRICTY CONSUMERS: “
 Make payment of LT Electricity Bills only through TANGEDCO Section Office Counters/E-seva centers of GoTN/Post Offices/Bank Counters of City Union Bank(CUB), Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB),Mobile apps of City Union Bank(CUB), Karur Vysya Bank(KVB) and Indian Bank(INB), ATM of TMB and through TANGEDCO website www.tangedco.gov.in.
Consumers are advised not to make payments through any other unauthorised agents/mobile apps/Websites so as to avoid disconnection of electricity supply for non-payment of EB Bills.

         

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