Bhubaneswar: To ease the electricity bill payments at the grassroots level, the Odisha Government, in partnership with Tata Power Ltd, has launched a new portal called GCMS (Government Consumer Management System) along with a mobile application. This initiative aims to simplify the process of paying electricity bills for Gram Panchayats across the state.
The GCMS portal was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, while the accompanying mobile app was launched by Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik. The project is a collaborative effort between the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, the State Informatics Centre (SIC) in Bhubaneswar, and Tata Power Company Limited.
The primary goal of this initiative is to ensure uninterrupted road lighting and drinking water supply in rural areas while promoting transparency and accountability. Historically, the state has faced challenges with delayed payments and a lack of efficient monitoring systems for electricity bills.
The GCMS portal, integrated with the e-Gram-Swaraj online platform, allows Panchayats to access, approve, and pay electricity bills within a day using a secure OTP system. This streamlined process is expected to significantly reduce arrears and improve overall efficiency in bill payments.
The application has already been successfully tested in three village panchayats of Bhubaneswar block in Khurda district, receiving positive feedback from stakeholders. Notably, Odisha is the first state in India to implement such a platform for electricity bill management at the Panchayat level.
This innovative solution not only simplifies the payment process but also provides gram panchayat users with an easy way to report and resolve electricity bill-related issues. Odisha is the first state in the country to use such a platform.
