I can hardly believe it. This is what happens when IT is foisted upon hapless governmental organisations that don’t have a shred of tech-savvy.

I visited the Bombay Electric Supply & Transport website to see if I could find a form for payment through the Electronic Clearing System, ECS. I found the download page easily enough and, naturally, expected to be getting a PDF that I could print and use. Amazingly, it turned out to be a zipped JPEG file which prints out to a size of ~7cm x 9cm (2.7″x3.6″). Originally, this was scanned (photographed?) from an A4 size sheet!

Thinking this might just be an aberration, I downloaded the form for the Senior Citizen’s Identity Card (no, no, I don’t need it!). Same problem. Oh, and as proof that you’re over 60 years of age, you need to produce your passport, service certificate (huh?), school leaving certificate or, hold your breath, your horoscope!

Go to: B.E.S.T. Undertaking’s Forms Download Page

Edited on 2011.02.12:
While the ECS form is now a PDF, the senior citizen form is still a graphic and still allows horoscopes as a proof of age.