For the initiative, the BMC has tied up with State Bank of India, which in turn has joined hands with ITZ Cash card — a pre-paid cash card. “Trials should begin from the third week of August. We will start with five wards — A, D, H/East, K/West and L — and ask citizens coming for bill payment to use their mobile phones instead,” said an official.

ITZ card can be used for over 1000 other listed services. BMC’s consultant for e-governance, Tata Consultancy Services, said that once the facility is launched, citizens can access it from anywhere. “They will be required to purchase the ITZ card, which is available at more than 1000 locations. It will function like the pre-paid mobile card,” said Suresh Mhatre, the project team leader with TCS.

For instance, if the bill amount is Rs 500, then ITZ card of the same amount can be purchased. This card will have a 16-digit number. Citizens will be required to send an SMS to a fixed number mentioning the bill number. This SMS will reach the BMC’s IT control room, following which an SMS will be sent back mentioning the pending bill amount.