Long queues in front of KSEB offices to pay bills will soon vanish. KSEB will soon introduce e-payment gateway enabling customers to pay bills online. The e-payment gateway is likely to be fully operational by May next year when all the banks in Kerala will be linked to the KSEB website. At present, KSEB online bill payment is made through the IDBI gateway only. Sources from the KSEB said the proposal is to make gateway of various banks. When more banks come up with the facility, the service charge will become minimal with the competition between them. ‘KSEB LT consumers can pay the bill using their debit or credit cards. Some of the banks have already approached the KSEB to offer the service,” the sources said. When every bank gets the facility to pay electricity bills, there will not be any service charge for the customers of these banks. At present, KSEB consumers have to pay `5 as service charge to pay bills online as there is no payment gateway for KSEB. Those using credit or debit card have to pay an extra 0.97 per cent of the bill amount to the bank for using the online facility. When KSEB’s domestic population is more than one crore, only a small percentage of them are using this facility. Consumers have to spend a lot of time at KSEB offices to pay bills. This often results in default of payment or dependency on other people or Friends Janaseva Kendrams for bill payment. Sources from the KSEB IT Department said the bill amount is received by KSEB after two days if it is paid through net banking. However, using debit or credit card will enable the Board to receive it the next day.