PSO signs utility bill payment agreement with SSGC

KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have entered into a customer facilitation alliance by inking an agreement to provide consumers with the facility to accept SSGC bills at PSO stations. The agreement is unique of its kind since it makes PSO the first non-banking entity where consumers can pay their SSGC utility bills.

Jalees A. Siddiqi, Managing Director & CEO, PSO, and Munawar Baseer Ahmad, Managing Director, SSGC, signed the agreement on behalf of their organizations.

This agreement will allow consumers with a facility to pay cash on 24/7 basis in a totally secure, hassle-free environment of PSO outlets, thus, saving themselves from the inconvenience of queuing up at banks. T he transaction will be done electronically via POS Terminals powered by ORIX network. Currently, 10 PSO petrol stations have been provided with this facility in Karachi and later 90 more stations will be covered in Sindh and Balochistan.

Speaking on the occasion, Jalees Siddiqi said both SSGC and PSO were driven towards providing innovative products and services to the customers and this is one factor that has led these companies to attain high standards of excellence. He said that providing top-class customer service is not just about business sense but corporate social responsibility too. He pointed out that both the companies realize the ordeal consumers have to go through in paying bills through banks and this agreement will redefine customer convenience.

The PSO MD pointed out that recently the company had introduced ATMs at its outlets and was now moving into the direction where these outlets would increasingly become centers for customer facilitation and convenience. He said the dealers stand to benefit immensely from this service since such a facility stands to provide additional businesses to them in the form of loyal, captive audience. He thanked PSO's strategic partners SSGC and ORIX for providing full cooperation in making the landmark agreement possible.

In his address, Munawar Baseer Ahmad, SSGC MD, pointed out that his company's initiatives were aimed at continuously delivering enhanced service to its customers. He said the company's motto of ' service with a smile' was simply geared at providing more and more choices to the consumers.

The SSGC MD asserted: "We have, for long, been seized with the dilemma of reducing the plight of customers and in this regard, have been constantly innovating and providing choices in the form of such technologies as ATMs, pre-paid meters, online banking, call centers, drop boxes and NADRA kiosks and, in each case, we have consolidated our position as the market leader."

He pointed out that while SSGC and PSO may be in different business segments, both are driven by a common vision of providing facilitation to customers through the use of our technologies, abilities and outlets. He congratulated SSGC and PSO teams working on the project in putting together a synergy that would further enhance the overall customer facilitation.

Earlier, Kalim A. Siddiqui, Executive Director, Customer Services, PSO, and Azim Iqbal Siddiqui, Senior General Manager (CS), SSGC, explained the salient features of the facility. Kalim Siddiqui said that PSO was strictly focused to providing unmatched benefits and privileges to consumers and, in this regard, felt proud to have SSGC as its strategic partner.

Zuhair Siddiqui, GM (IT), SSGC, gave a live demonstration of the new bill payment system and explained its salient features.