Digital Government Development Agency (Public Organization) (DGA), Bank of Thailand (BOT), Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA), and Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) have collaborated to develop mechanisms for utilizing data on electricity and water usage and payments under the consent of data subjects.
On April 23, 2024, at the Bank of Thailand (BOT), Ms. Apinhporn Aungkhagamonsesth, Senior Executive Vice President of the DGA, Mr. Ronadol Numnonda, Deputy Governor of Financial Institution Stability at the BOT, Mr. Pitsanu Tantithaworn, Deputy Governor of Digital Technology and Communications at the MEA, Kriengsak Kittiprapas, Deputy Governor of Digital and Communications at the PEA, Mr. Raksak Suriyaharn, Deputy Governor & Acting Governor of the MWA, and Mr. Atsada Chusin, Atsada Chusin, Deputy Governor of Operations 5 at PWA jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of mechanisms for utilizing data on electricity and water usage and payments under the consent of data subjects.
This mechanism facilitates secure access to electricity and water usage and payment history for users via the government’s application. The information will be verified with a digital signature at no cost and utilized for various purposes. For example, users can submit their data to financial service providers as supporting information for loan applications, increasing their chances of approval, especially for those who do not have fixed income or have a short financial history. This ensures that service providers receiving the data can process it automatically (in machine-readable format) and verify its source, ensuring that the information has not been falsified. Moreover, it helps to improve efficiency and reduce service costs for the public.
This collaboration aligns with the roles of MEA, PEA, MWA, and PWA, which, in addition to providing essential public utilities for citizens and driving the country’s economy, also support the public in making the most of their electricity and water usage and payment data. Through the government’s “Thang Rath” application, developed by DGA, citizens can conveniently, quickly, and securely access over 149 services from 74 agencies via a single platform. DGA aims to expand this data retrieval and sharing mechanism to other government data sources to ensure that citizens can maximize the benefits of their information stored within government agencies.
It is expected that people will be able to view and download their electricity and water bill usage and payment history via the Thang Rath application to use for digital transactions from the third quarter of 2024 onwards.