Hyderabad: The Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TGSPDCL) on Monday, July 1, announced that all mobile payment services, including PhonePe, Google Pay and PayTM, have discontinued their services to pay electricity bills in Telangana from today.
“As per the RBI directions, PhonePe, Paytm, Amazon Pay, Google Pay and Banks have stopped accepting the electricity bills of TGSPDCL w.e.f. 01/07/2024,” the power department said in a post on X.
Residents can now only pay electricity bills via the official website of the TGSPDCL or the TGSPDCL mobile app, said the power department. However, it is pertinent to note that the app is not available for iPhone users.
Additionally, users can still make payments using UPI apps, however, it can only be accessed via the website or app.
Only the urban population in the city uses third-party apps to make electricity bill payments and is likely to be affected. However, across the state, a majority of people still reach out to Meeseva centres to make their bill payments.
This news comes amidst a row over reports that the Telangana government is handing over the responsibility of power distribution and bill payments in Hyderabad’s Old City to the Adani Group. This has ignited the row further.
The privatisation of power by Congress has drawn sharp reactions from leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) questioning the Congress party’s stand towards the Adani Group led by Gautam Adani.
The chief minister suggested that the responsibility of the Old City region will be handed over to the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate as a pilot project. He cited the non-payment of bills by consumers and the assaults faced by the electricity staff when they go to collect the dues as the reason for the above decision.
Reddy further stated that after the pilot project in the Old City, the power distribution responsibility throughout the city of Hyderabad and later the state will be handed over to the Adani Group.
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