From now, besides Palli Bidyut postpaid bills, customers can recharge their prepaid meter through bKash as well. Customers of Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), popularly known as Palli Bidyut, will be able to recharge meter 24/7 from anywhere of the country.
With this initiative, more than 27 million both postpaid and prepaid Palli Bidyut subscribers across the country can now pay their electricity bills with great convenience.
There will be no service charge for prepaid meter recharge for next six months.
In prepaid system, electricity is disconnected whenever the meter balance comes to zero. It needs instant recharge to get uninterrupted electricity. bKash payment for prepaid meter is aimed to enable customers to enjoy seamless electricity service.
To ensure hassle-free, affordable and safe bill payment experience for almost 1 million prepaid subscribers of Palli Bidyut all over the country, bKash, the largest mobile financial service provider has signed an agreement with BREB.
Md. Asafuddowla, Secretary of BREB and Mizanur Rashid, Chief Commercial Officer of bKash signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations. Md. Zahirul Islam, Member (Distribution & Management); Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Member (Planning and Development); Anjan Kanti Das, Additional Chief Engineer; Hedayatul Islam, Additional Chief Engineer; Hossain Patwari, Director (Finance) and Md. Fahim Uddin, Senior System Analyst from BREB, and SM Belal Ahmed, General Manager, Business Development; Abu Salah Md. Moinuddin, Manager and Tanvir Khan, Manager, Business Development from bKash were also present along with senior officials of both the organizations.
Customers can get the opportunity to pay bills easily by choosing BREB, prepaid meter and amount from the Pay Bill option of the bKash app. The bill will be paid instantly and customer will get electricity service immediately. Customers can also make the bill payment by dialing *247# to access the bKash menu following some interactive steps to complete the process.
Md. Fahim Uddin, Senior System Analyst of BREB said, we think the instant recharge through bKash will increases the popularity of prepaid meter which will bring noticeable change in electricity management.
On July 2018, Palli Bidyut postpaid bill payment through bKash was initiated. More than 10 million customers in the last one year have paid their BREB postpaid bills through bKash
With more than 27 million subscribers, Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board is the largest electricity distribution company in the country and almost all its customers live in villages and remote areas, where the branches of commercial banks are very limited or not available at all.
Launched in 2011, bKash, a joint venture of BRAC Bank, US based Money in Motion, International Finance Corporation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ant Financial, operates as a payment service provider offering broad range of digital financial services under the regulation of Bangladesh Bank.