BWSSB launches mobile app to pay water bills

Bengaluru: The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has launched a mobile app to help water citizens pay water bills online without much hassle. The decision was taken by the Bangalore Water Board after most of the cheques and DDs were rejected by banks. Thus, the board has come up with alternative payment method via online including Google Pay, Phone Pay, Bhim, PayTM, BBPS, etc

The BWSSB is what most of the Bengaluru citizens have been depending upon for getting drinking water. The water bill used to be calculated according to the water usage and most of them used to pay cheque or demand drafts (DD's) towards payment of water and sanitary bills. But BWSSB has decided not to accept cheques or demand drafts towards payment of water and sanitary bills.

"The BWSSB has stopped receiving cheques and DDs as the facility closed last October itself. The fee/bills must be paid through the digital app or one can visit Bangalore One Centre Kiosk to pay with cash. This move has been initiated to encourage digitisation. Bills can be paid through various apps such as BBPS, PayTM, BHIP, Phone Pay, Google Pay," said BWSSB senior official.

According to the sources, in recent days most of the cheques and DDs received by BWSSB as bills were rejected by banks. According to sources, Rs 120 crore water bills are collected every month in Bengaluru out of which more than 10 cheque bounce cases are detected in every BWSSB sub-division. BWSSB claims that 2 percent of cheque bounce cases will be recorded every month. This has forced the water board to start digital payments via BBPS, PayTM, BJIM, PhonePe, Google Pay, PayU, Amazon Pay, QR code, and RTGS/NEFT bank transfers will be accepted without transaction charges.

However, transaction charges will be included for the use of payment gateways of ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, and BWSSB's mobile application, according to officials.