Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Citizens can now sit at home and pay their electricity, mobile phone, water bills and property tax through their mobile phones, get traffic alerts and also apply for a few Sakaala services, for which no documents are required.

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday launched the phase I of Mobile Governance on a pilot basis where select services under BangaloreOne, KarnatakaOne, Bangalore Traffic, Mysore Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and Sakaala services can be accessed by the consumer on his/her mobile phone free of cost.
Shettar said access to services has been made easy by putting all services under one umbrella and that the consumer need not feel hassled for having to remember multiple numbers or syntax.

This facility will also help improve the participation of citizens in governance, aside from making interaction between the government and citizens simpler as well as convenient. This will also bridge the digital divide between urban and rural Karnataka, he said.

The department of e-governance plans to add more services in the coming months, particularly those catering to the rural areas. An additional 100 services will be launched by the department this year.

Under Mobile Governance, there is also an option for listening to instructions, which will given both in Kannada and English.

This can be sought by dialling the interactive voice response (IVR) number 8088887766.

For those wanting to opt for an interactive interface, they can dial *505*807# (available for BSNL, Tata Docomo, and Idea users), get the menu of services and choose the ones they want. But those with internet connection on their phones can access the services on http://mobile.karnataka.gov.in.

For payment, consumers can use credit cards, bank accounts using IMPS based mode of payment or m-rupee (a semi-closed wallet based financial instrument offered by Tata Teleservices).

Additional payment instruments will be made available shortly. To ensure access to rural Karnataka, ‘Business Correspondent Model’ will be introduced at the village level.

The launch of Mobile Governance is in sync with the ‘Anytime, Anywhere and Any device’ vision of the State government, enabling citizens to access information and government services.

 With the penetration being particularly high in rural areas, delivery of government services on mobile phones can usher in a new era in service delivery and make governance more accessible to the common man, said Shettar.

Under phase 1, the following services can be availed: Bescom electricity bill; BWSSB water bill; traffic violation fines; Hubli-Dharwad property tax; Hescom bill; subscription to traffic alerts in Bangalore; Sakaala status enquiry (151 services); Mysore ITS (Mitra) services and access to all helplines.