For a system that was introduced for the convenience of customers,
the Kerala Water Authority’s (KWA) online payment facility has not been
working for the past two days.

Customers across the state were
annoyed to find that the webpage failed to download as they clicked on
the ‘Online Payment’ link on the authority’s website.

While the
KWA homepage and most other links on it were available, the online
payment link http:// 210.212.24.30/~kwauser/ online_payment/index.php
could not be retrieved.

The reason, KWA officials said, was due to
a change in Internet Protocol (IP) address of the data centre which
hosts their online payment services.

“The government data centre
at the Co-Bank Towers, which hosts our billing services, changed their
IP address on Tuesday and that is why the customers are unable to access
the payment gateway,” G Sujatha, KWA database administrator, said. 

“KWA received the intimation on Wednesday following complaints from customers,”  Sujatha said.

“A
mail has been forwarded to the Centre for Development of Imaging
Technology (C-DIT) which maintains the KWA website,”  Sujatha said.

“Services should resume on Thursday,” she said.

“Over
8,000 customers in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam and
Ernakulam, where the Kerala Water Authority’s digitisation process has
been completed, have registered for the online payment facility,”
Sujatha said.