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Automatic, but not quite

48

Written By silkboard - 3 September, 2007

Bangalore BESCOM

I say good job BESCOM as far as automation is concerned. Those hand-helds to instantly print out your monthly electricity bill, and these automatic payment accepting machines.

[flickr-photo:id=1210556484,size=m][flickr-photo:id=1210559312,size=m]

Before this machine came in, paying my BESCOM bill used to be a 4-5 minute job. But now, it takes double that time. Why? Because, there is an attendant standing in front of the machine helping you with the payment process. He follows the steps as listed in an instruction board next to the machine (see pic above). He feeds all currency notes in the right way (Mahatma Gandhi facing up). Old and wrinkled notes, you know, the ones with crumpled edges give him no joy either.

I can guess that there is a man proxying that machine for a reason - there is no way everyone in Whitefield and nearby hallis can use it. Two things to say after watching it for a few months now - 1) it merely replaced the PC and printer at the billing counter, and 2) made the process twice as lengthy for bill-paying customers. You may doubt if this has been a wise investment.

A nice case study for either going overboard with automation, or not doing it right. Good try and start though, and may be that a better usable, multilingual, and talking machine will someday not require a front-man.

COMMENTS

small step for automation...

tsubba - 12 September, 2007 - 17:52

thats ok afa i'm concerned. anything to automate stuff. egov ain't as much about hifi, as it is about transparency and automation. tomorrow or day after the guy will be seen as redundant and occupied much more productively, until then as long as it seeds automation, i think it is ok.

BBMP opens kiosks to collect property tax

tsubba - 25 November, 2007 - 16:34

BBMP opens kiosks to collect property tax The Hindu The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has opened 10 centres where people can pay their property tax in the West Zone, according to a release. The kiosks will function from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. till November 30, including holidays. Property tax within Rs. 1,000 must be paid in cash and those above Rs. 1,000 must be paid through cheque or demand drafts addressed to the Commissioner, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore. Property tax can be paid even at the office of the Assistant Revenue Officer, citizen service centres and Bangalore One centres. The new kiosks are open at: Sri Rama Mandira Ward office, 5th block, Rajajinagar; 16th Cross, Malleswaram, Vyalikaval, next to IPP office; Manuvana Park, Rajagopal Road, Geddalahalli Main Road, near Radhakrishna temple, Sanjaynagar; J.P. Park, Chowdeshwari Bus Station, Jalahalli; Avenue Road junction, Chikpet; Ward Office, 15th Ward, Rajajinagar; Gubbi Veeranna Rangamandira, Gandhinagar; Prakashnagar Ward 23 office, Gayathrinagar; Mahalakshmipura ward 10, Swimming Pool Extension; BBMP school grounds, opposite Idgah Maidan, Chamarajpet.

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