BENGALURU : More than a year after Bangalore Electricity Supply Company launched its Bescom Mithra app, it has seen only 1 lakh downloads on the Android play store. The app was launched to help consumers track complaints, pay bills, get information about scheduled power outages, and switch between different accounts such as multiple homes, offices, etc. However, the app has still not caught on among city folk. A few users say there are technical issues that make it difficult to use.
Pankaj Malhotra, a resident of Defence Colony who uses the app for his home and office accounts, said, “My complaints do not get registered. After I type in all the details, the app says it has failed to register the complaint. I have tried updating and reinstalling it too. These issues have been occurring for the last month.” He finds that the 1912 helpline is a more efficient way than the app.
The app was easy to use to register complaints, but that option is not working anymore. I can’t find my complaint history either. Even to check the advance deposit that I pay, I have to log in to my account through the website only,” added Pankaj.Raghav (name changed), another app user, said, “I have two accounts to pay my and my parents’ electricity bill. At times, the option to switch between the two accounts does not work. I also have no record of my billing history.”
When contacted, a Bescom official from the Technology Innovation Center, said, “We were not aware that users were facing such problems. We will get the technical issues rectified. We have also been working to add features, such as showing nearby ATMs and utility offices using the consumers’ GPS location. These features will be added to the app in a month.”
When the app was launched, a pilot test was conducted wherein a person could compare their electricity usage with those using similar amounts of power. They were grouped based on their power usage over a three-month period. “This helped them see if they have consumed more than the average and optimise their electricity usage. We want to bring back this feature,” the official said, adding, “However, we will need to call tenders for a data analytics company to create the same feature permanently.”The department also plans to publicise the app more after the elections to increase the number of users.