The electricity company of Ghana in 2005 introduced the so called prepaid meter, and I hope everybody remember the reason they gave for its efficacy over the old billing system?
They basically claimed that it will makes their revenue mobilisation much easier and cost effective.
Whilst publishing its mutual benefits to consumers, they kept some side effects to the consumer under the carpet. Fortunatelyy, I found these ones when I was sweeping their manager’s room;
1. Consumers can never ever evade the payment of their electricity usage since one has to pay before he uses electricity.
2. ECG’s cost of hiring persons and their transportation cost to collect bill payments, and also to submit bills to their respective consumers together with mounting up collection point kiosks are to be paid now by the consumer.
3. ECG can indirectly regulate the amount of electric power that is used by the consumer. Eg. Consumers are to make advance payments for all electricity usage of the month. In practical business terms, advance payments is like an interest-free loan to the company from the consumer.
There were other critical concerns on other hidden sheets under the carpet that also need to be highlighted and expatiated.
1. It is really difficult to understand how the system works and it baffles the minds of even the highest degree holder in Ghana today, let’s consider this scenario; Using my house as the reference point for evidence sake, there was one
particular month that GHc50 worth of credit was different in different periods in the month. I.e. At a point, it gave me 15 points and at another time 68 points. I began to ask myself whether National lottery authority was now working with ECG when the same ghc50 gave me 78 points BINGO in a particular month. The company seems to be using these strategies to force consumers to purchase more points.
Again, as we all know, one can decide not to use electricity whenever he/she deem fit since I believe there is no proper legal interpretation to make electricity usage compulsory. Even though I stand to be corrected, yet, I think no act of parliament will commit itself in this regard, especially in these days where the company is struggling to provide enough power for consumers. One may argue that ECG charges include street lighting system, fair be it, but what then becomes of me who has no single street light in my area?
Another is that, the system is made in such a way that, consumers whether they like it or not have to purchase points each month in order not to pay more charges for same points bought at a cheaper price by another customer. I actually don’t know what this means. It can never be discount for regular customers since buying points at regular intervals within the same month incur more charges.
Besides, ECG has introduced a different type of prepaid meter with different contradictory prepaid plans which is only understandable by ECG and their staff. I don’t actually use that kind of meter so I will not say much about that.
Is it not cheating as compared to those who are still on the old system of billing? Why am I saying so?
1. Consumers on the old system of billing can pile their bills at any period in the month at a fixed price applicable to all its users.
2. ECG prints monthly bills which costs them printing charges and hire people to relocate their respective consumers at their own (ECG’s) expense for free to such consumers.
It becomes very hectic to make my co-tenants who are illiterates to understand how the system works just like my own literate self. The only payback I get for doing ECG good by collecting bills on their behalf as a landlord is for my tenants to destroy my hard earned reputation, since they always think I am cheating them. Whiles such affected collectors like me elsewhere somewhere may either angrily decide not to collect the bills again or lose confidence and trust in their tenants or co-tenants (whichever applicable) in ‘dumsor’, the ECG boss will be sleeping comfortably on his bed with load shedding timetable in hand waiting for who is next to get lights out.
Consumers on these new system of billing are being supressed, to say the least.
The only conclusion one can draw from the above opinions is that the introduction of prepaid meter and billing system has and will only be efficient from only the electricity company’s point of view.
I have no option than to pause here, since all what I have said is likely to fall on deaf ears.