Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has said it is in the final stages of migrating all clients from postpaid to prepaid metering systems, having completed at least 93 percent of the targeted areas.
The migration exercise entails switching from postpaid meters to prepaid ones for households, tower lights, various companies and other facilities that use electricity.
ZETDC notes that the exercise will improve cash flows for the utility and improve operational efficiency through elimination of meter reading and removal of estimated bills.
ZETDC acting public relations officer, Alaina Suliwa, explained to CITE that the migration exercise, which started in 2012 is expected to be completed by June 2024.
“ZETDC started the national prepayment metering rollout project in 2012 targeting domestic and small commercial customers and have been conducting the exercise in phases since then. We are now on the final phase of the project where we are mopping up all points that are still on postpaid metering countrywide as we aim to have all customers on prepaid metering systems by the end of June 2024,” Suliwa noted.
“The objective is to migrate all customers to the prepaid metering platform, empower the customers to manage electricity costs, bring convenience in payment for electricity through a multiplicity of vending platforms like mobile network operators, point of sale machines in retail outlets, and banks among other channels.”
Suliwa said the prepaid meter system has been effective in reducing debt owed by clients as the money is paid as part of token purchases.
“The changeover has helped ZESA to reduce debt which was being paid as part of token purchase. To date over 93 percent of all postpaid customers have migrated to the prepaid platform. The prepaid system will improve cash flows for the utility and improve operational efficiency through elimination of meter reading and removal of estimated bills,” said the ZETDC acting public relations officer.
“We had some system challenges when we migrated from ZWL to ZiG billing where the system of registering the connected prepaid meters was down. We are glad to advise that the service is now back up, and we have managed to register most of the prepaid meters, and customers are now able to buy units.”
Meanwhile, there has been an outcry from some Bulawayo residents about the changeover exercise, with some councilors alleging they were unaware that the operation had been effected.
Cllr Donaldson Mabuto for Ward 9, is on record decrying the changeover would affect lighting in his ward, a development that may risk an increase in robbery cases and jeopardise residents’ safety.
Ward 10 Cllr, Khalazani Ndlovu, also noted the exercise has affected water delivery in her ward, as some of the boreholes are pumped by power drawn from the tower lights.
