In a customer-oriented move, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd has tied up with Industrial Development Bank of India for setting up cheque drop boxes at major public places for the convenience of its customers.

Earlier the company had tied up with private major, ICICI for installation of similar cheque posting points at about 100 locations across the city.

S P Nagtilak, chief engineer for MSEDCL Pune Zone, said, "The proposal of IDBI bank has been finalised by the head office and modalities are being worked out to implement the same. The drop boxes will be installed in a few months after the formal commissioning of contract with IDBI."

Nagtilak confirmed that the posting points will be set up only in select places with appropriate security and considerable public movement, "We cannot install these boxes where there is no security," he added.

Nagtilak also indicated that the bank will receive royalty of Rs 3.50 per cheque clearing.

Established in 2005, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) is one of the largest public sector companies, in power distribution business with an annual turnover of Rs. 21,278 crores. The company has a customer base of 156.96 Lakh and a pool of over 75000 employees. The company has taken several customer-friendly technology initiatives like installation of all time payment machines for anytime bill payment in major metro cities, online energy bills for all metered consumers to mention a few.

Established in 1964, under an Act of Parliament as a wholly owed subsidiary of RBI, Karnataka based, IDBI is driven by state of art information technology platform, offering personalized banking services and financial solutions to its customer through network of 564 branches. Earlier, this year, the bank entered into an agreement with CRISIL Risk Solutions to establish an integrated risk management architect as per the requirements of Basel II accords.

As on March 31, 2009, the bank had an aggregate balance sheet size of Rs.1,72,402 crore.