Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has updated its Android application incorporating the newly launched meter reading alongside its bill payment system. Now you can use the NEA app for online meter reading, online bill payment, bill inquiry, no-light phone numbers, news and updates, recruitment, DCS contacts, complaints, and more.
For a recap, follow the given steps for meter reading:
- Sign up for the user registration providing details including name, email, mobile number, and password. NEA doesn’t want you to be a meter holder for registration.
- Log in to the system using the mobile number and the password in order to move to the ‘consumer registration form.’
- Toggle on ‘Add Consumer’ to add one or more consumer(s) and choose a distribution center to enter DCS Name, Consumer ID, and Consumer Number for submission. (Note: a single user can read and input multiple meters readings separately). Then, tap on the ‘CLICK’ button to move to the ‘Meter Reading Entry Form.’
- Choose the ‘current year month’ and enter your current meter reading (numbers only) for submission. You can even upload an image of the meter(s) in JPG format with a max 5MB size.
Since the launch of the online meter reading system, several customers have been complaining about registration issues and support. You don’t actually need to be a meter holder and can enter any phone number for registration. Though we get the intention, the system is not verifying the user at all — that does raise a question. And it totally ignores the signup password strength.
NEA has pledged to confirm via message and phone call if it suspects a user meter reading problem. But we’ll love to see such verification through the app itself in the days to come.
Moving on to the online bill payment, options include eSewa, Nepal Investment Bank Limited, Prabhu Bank Limited, Mahalaxmi Bikash Bank Limited, City Express Private Limited, Pay Point Nepal, and Himalayan Bank Limited. Whereas, as of now, only the Nepal Investment Bank Limited option seems to be functional.
NEA has also launched a toll-free hotline number 1150 for 24 x 7 support. Considering the recent complaints, we really hope NEA to reach out and respond to customers’ queries.
NEA has brought plenty of app updates, be it the new user interface and the new functionalities. However, as mentioned earlier, it has a lot to correct and polish. Anyway, the online meter reading and the online bill payment aside a few other features including no-light phone numbers, recruitment, and distribution center contacts are the additions worth looking at.
