THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: E-toilet users will soon have multiple options to choose from for using the coin-operated facility. Reason - new Rs 1 and Rs 2 coins which come in varying sizes are confusing the machines.
Eram Scientific Solutions, which provides technical expertise and maintains the Delight Electronic Public Toilets, is planning to introduce SMS and call facilities along with the coin facility to overcome the problem.
‘’We considered two options. One, to introduce an SMS facility so that the user can send an SMS for opening the e-toilet. But the problem was that the SMS could get delayed. We also thought of introducing a mobile phone number so that the user can call us and we can open the toilet for him/her. Now we are planning to introduce both options along with the existing coin facility,’’ Manohar Varghese, media and government relations head, Eram Scientific Solutions, said.
The hi-tech, pay-and-use facilities are operated by inserting a coin - Rs 1 or Rs 2, depending on the agency operating them - into the designated slot.
But with the Reserve Bank coming out with new Rs 1 and Rs 2 coins of varying sizes, the machines began rejecting them. The problem is, the ‘coin validators’ for the e-toilets were foreign companies and they based their design on the coins then in use in India.
At present, there are 300-plus e-toilets across the State. Several more are being installed. Orders have come for 96 more e-toilets which would be installed next month, Manohar Varghese said. Sensors control fans, lamps and flushes inside the toilet. The toilets are operated by various agencies, including local bodies.