Bengaluru: Riding on the successful rollout of the e-khata campaign by Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) across all five city corporation limits, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) has simplified the process of transferring electricity connections into property owners’ names by integrating its portal with the GBA database. This enables property owners to complete the transfer online in under 10 minutes with just a few clicks.Under the e-khata system, key details such as property number, customer ID, Aadhaar number, phone number and email ID are verified and recorded. Bescom now leverages this authenticated data to seamlessly transfer electricity connections — from builders to buyers or from previous owners to current holders or deceased parents to children, for a fee of about Rs 1,300 towards stamp paper, indemnity bond and service charges.Though the service is yet to be formally launched, a soft rollout over the past few days has already shown promising results, with more than 5,000 property owners completing transfers.“We received several complaints regarding transfer of connection wherein consumers are forced to submit several documents, visit division offices, field visits spanning over a week. People neither had time nor were they aware of requirements. Hence, middlemen or touts were encashing on the scenario and people ended up paying over Rs 10,000 for transfer of connection. But there is no scope for such intervention as the entire system is completely faceless and transparent,” said a Bescom engineer.N Shivashankar, managing director of Bescom, explained: “The moment a property owner gets his e-khata, they will receive autogenerated sms from Bescom server about their e-khata and a link to facilitate the transfer of electricity connection. If you click on the link, it will land on Bescom’s portal and require an OTP authentication. Subsequently, all your khata details along with previous (builders) name will pop up on the screen. After verifying all the names and details, if you click on e-sign document, a digital stamp paper and indemnity bond will appear on the screen. You need to facilitate the signing through Aadhaar-based authentication and pay the required fee to complete the transfer.”Gaurav Gupta, additional chief secretary, energy department, said, “Due to this advanced system, consumers can change their names online without visiting Bescom subdivision offices in GBA limits. The process is simple, fast and completed without human intervention.” Energy minister KJ George added, “This is one of the several initiatives of the energy department aimed at providing transparent and quality services to our consumers using IT. Property owners with e-khata mutation under GBA jurisdiction can change the electricity connection name from anywhere. In the coming days, this facility will be extended to city municipal corporations, town municipal corporations, town panchayats and gram panchayats.“BoxSeamless process for name change* After the successful e-khata mutation at GBA, the server autogenerates a sms with request ID to the property owner with a link for ownership change of electricity connection * Click the link, login to Bescom portal and authenticate* Your property details retrieved from GBA will be displayed for verification* Pay processing fee of Rs 100 & click on Go Back to Application link* Click on e-sign link and an emSigner page will pop up. Read the digital agreement, indemnity bond details and click proceed* Pay Rs 1,194 on the emSigner page either through UPI, credit, debit or netbanking methods* Authenticate your digital signature using Aadhaar enabled e-KYC* Redirected to Bescom’s portal, download e-signed documents, bonds and click Office Memorandum link* A confirmation sms will be sent once the process is completed* Your name will appear in the electricity bill from the next billing cycle
