adminbetween failure and success of an entity.
Zimbabweans have endured power blackouts for many years though they still had to put up with heavy bills at the end of each month.
This made consumers detest the power utility as they felt ripped off, leading even authorities to investigate if the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority was not abusing its monopoly in electricity supply.
The consequent investigation established that the monopoly was being abused and Zesa was told by the Competition and Tariff Commission to review its charges and adjust its tariffs to reflect the period that customers went without power.
This applied to customers on load limiter supply whereby fixed charges applied regardless of how much the customer consumed during that month.
We applaud the power utility for responding to these concerns and overhauling its billing system which is being replaced with the pre-payment meter system that is being rolled out countrywide.
At least 100 000 pre-payment meters have been installed countrywide since last year and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company has targeted to have installed 600 000 by August this year.
Just when customers were still singing praises of the convenience of the pre-paid system, which however, entailed one having to queue at ZETDC offices to buy pre-paid electricity coupons, the power utility has come up with an added convenience through decentralising sales points.
The pre-paid electricity meter system has since been upgraded to allow users to buy coupons from street vendors and selected outlets so that power can be bought any time of the day as is the case in other countries.
The new system began yesterday and we hope it will ease pressure on the power utility offices while offering added convenience to customers.
“The development is meant to usher a new era of operational efficiency by eliminating queues that had been caused by the overloading of the old system,” said Zesa Holdings spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira.
Indeed, the power supplier has not had a smooth relationship with its customers over the years largely due to the high bills that customers were getting at a time when load shedding was on the rise.
With Zesa saying that it would meet its August deadline of installing a total of 600 000 pre-payment meters countrywide, customers should expect and demand better service from the power utility under this new era where the company would get money in advance before providing a service.
This should translate into improved generation capacity and stable supplies that would augur well even for industry and commerce.
As the system of using vendors to sell electricity coupons is rolled out it is our hope that it would be done transparently and provide a source of living to thousands of people who stand to earn a commission through sales.
We would like to challenge other service providers whose customers have to endure long queues to tap into the latest innovations and free customers’ time so that they can use it more productively elsewhere.
Online Reporter