JAMMU: J&K Bank has failed to rollout electricity bill payments through Khidmat Centres, despite the orders were issued by the government four months back, Minister of State for Information Technology Feroz Ahamd Khan said, according to an official statement issued here on Monday.
“… the efforts of Jammu and Kashmir Bank to rollout the electricity bill payment through Kidmat Centres have not been adequate despite the PDD (Power Development Department) has informed the bank four months ago,” the minister said, according the statement.
Khan was reviewed the status of online electricity billing system through Khidmat Centres in Jammu and Kashmir state.
The meeting was informed that the governemtn has already decided to rollout the service through Khidmat Centres in the state amd PDD issued a letter to J&K Bank on September 20, 2013 to authorize Kidmat Centres for electricity bill collection.
The meeting, according the statement, decided that an alternate mechanism will be implemented by Power Development Department and Information Technology to facilitate the citizen for payment through online gateway. Jammu and Kashmir Bank was also urged to come out with a mechanism for bill payment as soon as possible.
The issues related to BSNL for providing connectivity were also raised by the representatives of Khidmat Centres. The authorities of BSNL assured them that they have invested in Wi-Max technology to improve the connectivity to Khidmat Centres and they will be able to provide connectivity to Khidmat Centres as per norms. The representatives of Khidmat Centres thanked the Minister for organizing the meeting to seek out their pending issues, the statement said.
Principal Secretary PDD, Commissioner Secretary Information Technology, senior officers of BSNL, J&K Bank, Additional CEO JaKeGA, State Information Officer NIC, State E Mission Team and representatives of Khidmat Centres from Jammu and Kashmir were also present in the meeting.

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