Now, pay power bills also at grocery and pharmacy stores

Nagpur: No need to stand in queue at Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) bill centres for paying power bills. You need not pay bills online if you feel the mode is unsafe. You soon may be able to pay your electricity bill at your neighbourhood grocery or pharmacy store.
The state discom has introduced ‘MSEDCL Wallet’ mobile application using which an individual registered with the company can collect bill amount from consumers and pay it on their behalf. The agent will get a commission of Rs5 per bill (taxes extra).
An MSEDCL spokesperson said, “Individuals, shop owners, bill collection centre owners and meter readers can register themselves as collection agents under this scheme. The agent will have to charge his Wallet by paying Rs5,000 to the discom. Recharges will cost Rs1,000. This can be through debit, credit card or netbanking.”
He further said that the agent can only collect cash from consumers. As soon as the consumer pays the bill through Wallet system, he will receive an SMS on his mobile. He will later receive a receipt. If the agent has a printer, he can generate the receipt immediately.
The commission will be credited to the agent’s account online. For that he will be required to submit receipts of bills collected by him online.
The spokesperson further said that persons interested in becoming agents should apply online through the link https://occs.mahadiscom.in/occsWallet/index. They will have to submit details of Aadhar card, PAN card, GST registration certificate (if applicable), shop and establishment certificate (for other than individuals), address proof (if address on Aadhar card is different from business place), photograph and cancelled cheque. Spot inspection and document verification will be carried out by MSEDCL officials of that area.
The discom spokesperson said that the Wallet system was mainly for rural areas where MSEDCL bill collection centres are far away from the consumers’ home or farm.