Kerala State Electricity Board plans for 24-hour bill payment machines

Thiruvananthpuram: The Kerala State Electricity Board will soon introduce 24-hour  bill payment machines in major cities and also consider payment of  bills through bank ATMs.

Discussions are also being held with banks on  introducing direct debit facility for paying electricity bills, Power Minister Kadakampally Surendran said in the Assembly on Wednesday.

The bill payment machines will be introduced in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kozhikode.

The facility would be extended to more places in the due course and  the government would consider all  measures to simplify bill payment procedures, he said. Even the option of spot billers  collecting the bills would be considered, the power minister said.

PROBE INTO TRIBAL FUND MISUSE
SC/ST Welfare Minister A.K. Balan told the Assembly that a preliminary probe was already on into the alleged malpractices in the loan waiver scheme announced by the previous UDF government for SC/ST communities. If irregularities are detected in the  probe being conducted by the principal secretary, the government will order a vigilance probe.

Former chief minister  Oommen Chandy denied the allegations and insisted on a detailed probe.  “In the wake of the allegations, I went through the records and found that there were no irregularities. Baseless allegations are being raised against former minister P.K. Jayalekshmi in this regard,” he said.

CYBER CRIMES: In view of the increasing cyber crimes, including ATM  frauds,  a cyber crime branch on the lines of the police special branch will be set up soon, Mr  Balan said  on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Awareness programmes were also being carried out among the public against cyber cheatings. After the LDF came to power, 21 ATM cases were registered in the state. Of this, three were  charge-sheeted, he said.