Residents of Muzaffarpur town are a text message away from their power bills.

Essel Vidyut Vitaran (Muzaffarpur) Ltd, the power distribution franchisee for the town, has launched a “bill on SMS service” for its consumers. Under this system, consumers can know their electricity bill amount on their cellphone. The service will be available to consumers in the suburban areas and also few rural areas.

The deputy manager (public relations) of Essel Vidyut Vitaran (Muzaffarpur) Ltd, Rohan Dubey, said the consumers who want to avail the service have to text “help” to 7544001122. Once they do so, they would get options that will help them know the bill details and other services and pay their power bills conveniently at any of the zonal offices.

Pankaj Ranjan, an investment adviser and a resident of JP Colony of the town, said: “It is undoubtedly a welcome step. The facility would free us from an anxious wait for electricity bills. We can just deposit the bill on the basis of the information received on our phones.”

Zulfiquar Hussain, a resident of Kamra Mohalla of the town, also said: “The franchisee is doing a good job and this shows their commitment for the consumers. Now people will have ample time for depositing the bill. Earlier, we used to get the bill two to three days before the last date for payment.”

The distribution franchisee has also set up a round-the-clock helpline number — 18602330000 — for the convenience of the consumers.

For any further clarifications or complaints (technical or commercial), consumers can call on the number. It would also enable consumers to update their mobile number on which Essel Vidyut Vitaran (Muzaffarpur) Ltd would send the text message alerts.

The alerts would range from the last date for bill payment, power shutdown for few hours in a particular area, restoration of power supply in the event of any breakdown and others, said Dubey.

The 24x7 call centre would also let consumers avail of new service connections and faulty meter replacement among other services.

The distribution franchisee has a consumer service centre at Maripur. It plans to open five more consumer centres at Saraiyaganj, Kalyani, East (Bhikanpura), West (Bhagwanpur Chowk) and SKMCH for the convenience of consumers.

The two distribution companies of the state had launched a text message-based alert service on October 30 for their consumers. Consumers in Muzaffarpur could not avail the facility as the town and some of its adjoining rural areas were handed over to the distribution franchisee on November 1.