MoU for online payment of utility bills signed

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Instaphone and Paktel for online payment of bills. Nadra chairman Brigadier Saleem Ahmed Moeen (Retd) and Pakcom chief executive Iain Williams, on behalf of both the companies, signed the MoU.
The "Kiosk" is a Pakistan-made machine, which will enable consumers to pay utility bills and perform electronic banking using Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC), relieving them of hassles of long queues and help them save precious time.
The Nadra chairman informed these Kiosks would be initially installed in major cities and ultimately the service would be extended to tehsil level.
He said initially the pilot project would be launched in Karachi and, as much as 75 such machines would be installed by the end of 2005. These machines would be installed in clusters of two or three and each machine could handle 300 to 350 customers in 24 hours, he added.
He said now consumers of these utility services could get the pin number directly through these Kiosks without manually purchasing scratch cards. Purchase of pin number cards will be done online through cash payment and the system will give an automatic pin number to consumers.
The chairman said a person can use this system by registering himself at any NSRC and he can also nominate someone else at the time of registration to pay the utility bill on his behalf.
After registration, one can pay utility bills through the system, which will not only facilitate the general public, but also the utility bill collection process, financial reconciliation and easy transfer of money.
He said Nadra has already signed an MoU with the Sui Southern Gas Limited in this regard and more MoUs are expected with other utility firms like Wapda, SNGPL, PTCL and KESC in near future.
Iain Williams said public-private partnership is essential to provide fast utility services and filling the service gap. He hoped the general public would be able to meet challenges by availing swift services.
Pakcom executive director Sikander Iqbal Naqvi, national manager marketing Adnan Ahmed, national manager customer operations Ali Kamrani and Paktel national manager Akbar were also present on the occasion.