Ha ha ha (its not a laugh but a guffaw)...... My stomach is aching. Somebody please help me..... :) :) :) Let me tell you why. I paid my electricity bill online for the first time and what a hilarious experience it was for me !!!! After I punched in my consumer number, I was taken to an interface which tells you that certain terms have to be agreed upon by you by clicking the Accept button, before you were taken to the next interface , which is the payment portal for the bill. Now comes the hilarious part . Listed amongst the terms are issues which first made me livid with anger but as I am quite proficient in anger management skill, I saw the humorous side of it and that was the root cause of my unending guffaws. According to APDCL payment through net banking and payment through debit card is two different instruments and to add salt to injury , they have decided upon two charges : Rs 10 for net banking and Rs 20 for payment using a debit card ! The third option is to pay using a credit card for which we are to be charged about 1.7% of the amount to be paid ! My humble submission is why the cost is passed on to the consumers ??? Will someone please enlighten a lay person like me the logic of the whole system. Or am I to understand that this payment portal is managed by an outside collection agency working on behalf of APDCL to collect revenues like IRCTC or other agencies through which we book air tickets and have to pay a minimum charge for the facility ? But even those agents dont categorise receiving payments through net banking, debit card and credit card. Charge is uniform. As an ex-employee of the ASEB Im extremely embarrassed by the absurdity of the situation. I request the authority to look into the matter and rectify accordingly. If the APDCL wanted to encourage consumers to opt for hassle free online payment, opposite is happening here. We are discouraging consumers to opt for this system. I am making this post public to create awareness about the fact that we, the consumers are being taken for a ride through an unethical business practice.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 08:57:40 +0000
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