Self-billing system rolled out for city gas consumers

In a major relief to consumers of the Indian Oil Adani (IOA) City Gas project concerned about delays in timely clearance of dues, the company has rolled out a mobile app-based self-billing system across all nine divisions of the Kochi Corporation where the project is currently active.

The self-billing system requires consumers to take meter readings themselves, rather than waiting for a spot meter reader, and enter the readings into the IOA app. Anxious consumers had been bombarding division councillors and local WhatsApp groups with concerns about their inability to clear bills promptly. Many had fallen, or were at risk of falling, prey to online scammers who appeared to be exploiting the confusion surrounding billing.

“There were some issues with the billing, which we have now resolved. We will conduct awareness sessions in each division to help consumers switch to spot billing. A video tutorial will also be released shortly,” said IOA sources.

So far, nearly 15,000 households have been connected to the City Gas project, of which approximately 6,000 to 7,000 have begun using piped gas. The project has been implemented in the following nine divisions: Kunnumpuram, Vennala, Palarivattom, Thammanam, Chakkaraparambu, Chalikkavattom, Ponnurunni East, Punithura, and Ponnurunni.

Expansion of the project will require extending the main pipeline, which involves road excavation. With local body elections approaching, division councillors are hesitant to excavate roads due to fears of public backlash.

“We anticipated such a situation. That is why we prioritised completing the physical infrastructure, including road excavation, across all nine divisions. The infrastructure, comprising pipeline laying and meter installation, is now complete. The remaining work inside homes, such as converting LPG stoves to suit natural gas supply and removing cooking gas cylinders, is being carried out based on consumer convenience,” IOA sources added.

Although road restoration was scheduled to be completed earlier, fresh resurfacing had to be postponed in many areas for pipeline testing. In these locations, roads were made motorable but not resurfaced to avoid re-excavation in case leaks were detected during testing. “We have already begun the pending road restoration work, which will be completed within a fortnight,” said sources.