LAHORE, Nov 24: Lahorites are compelled to waste an average one million manhours every month for making repeated visits to the banks for payment of 2.5 million utility bills delivered one after another due to the absence of a centralized utility services billing system.

Each of the four utility services organizations —- the Water and Power Development Authority (12,16,706 consumers), the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (5,00,000 consumers), the Water and Sanitation Agency (4,53,000 consumers) and the Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (3,31,087 subscribers) —- has its own system of billing.

Bills are prepared and distributed either by the employees of the utility services organizations or through the post office during different periods of the month and are required to be paid by separate due dates.

Receipt of utility services bills at different dates with separate due dates fixed for payment of every bill compels the citizens to waste at least one to two hours each making repeated visits to the banks and standing in queues for making payments of the same. This wastage of time can be checked by establishing a centralized system for utility services billing and delivery of a single bill for all the utility services available on a premises.

A centralized system for the utility services billing can be established at much lower cost as compared to the huge expenditure being incurred on the process at present due to the deployment of separate staff by every utility services organization for taking the readings of the electricity, gas and water supply meters installed on the premises of the consumers which can be done by the same personnel at one third of the existing cost.

Readings of the telephone meters do not require visits to the premises of the subscribers as the meters are installed at the telephone exchanges.