BPE assures electricity consumers to prune escalated billing system

THE Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has assured Nigerians of the readiness of the agency to prune the current electricity billing system.
BPE in a statement by Head, Public Communications, Alex Okoh stated that a digital customer enumeration exercise to ascertain the identity and number of electricity consumers within its system is being conducted by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), its Managing Director, JamiluIsyaku Gwamna has disclosed.
Briefing a team from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) , led by the Director, Electric Power Department, Ibrahim Babagana, that visited the company recently in continuation of the post-privatisation monitoring activities of the privatised PHCN successor companies in the country, Gwamna said the exercise which was being conducted independently by field staff of the company with the use of digital hand-held capture machines is aimed at knowing the company’s customers, their information and reducing the inefficiencies associated with billing and revenue collection within the system.
He informed the BPE’s monitors that the exercise is a prelude to the metering exercise that would commence from December 1, 2015, and that the company had acquired over 90, 000 smart pre-paid meters to be distributed to customers within its coverage area (of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States). He added that the enumeration would assist in the meter distribution process.
According to the MD, the metering was not only in compliance with the performance agreement the company entered into with the Bureau of Public Enterprises to meter over 500, 000 customers in five years, but efforts to improve the company’s revenue collection and to bring to an end as soon as possible, the issue of estimated billing. He said the company’s revenue collection efficiency was at 53%.
To improve revenue collection efficiency and ensure efficient service delivery to its customers, the Managing Director disclosed that the company had acquired 68 branded vehicles and several tricycles (popularly called Keke NAPEP) and motorcycles to be used by staff to distribute bills to its customers and respond promptly to faults’ report.
Gwamna further disclosed that the number of payment platforms for customers to make payments had increased and that payments could be made via the following platforms: online e-payment platforms such as Quickteller, mobile payment platforms such as Paga; Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals and at any of the company’s Payment Centers.