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The Volta Regional branch of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has joined the company’s nationwide exercise to capture the consumption of customers through a digitised platform and ensure all customers pay their bills.
The exercise which commenced on November 6, and will end on December 11, this year.
ECG officials capturing the meter reading of a customer with the POS device
Addressing the media, the General Manager of ECG Volta Region, Ms Christina Jatoe-Kaleo confirmed that the exercise was ongoing in all eleven districts in Volta and Oti Regions, namely; Denu, Keta, Akatsi, Sogakope, Ho, Kpeve, Kpando, Hohoe, Jasikan, Nkwanta and Dambai.
She added that the company had moved away from capturing meter readings manually and had digitised the process to inspire confidence from customers.
According to her, the exercise would see ECG officials visit the premises of customers to capture the consumption of their meters, verify meter readings, check the integrity of meters and also engage customers in arrears to pay their bills.
“In previous revenue mobilisation exercises, we went out in our numbers to ensure customers in arrears paid their debt, and this was successful because we were able to visit a lot of customers, since we had enough staff on the field.
In view of this, we want to replicate the same exercise, but this time around we are going out in our numbers to visit all our meters to capture the consumption of customers in addition to the revenue mobilization,” she said.
Ms Jatoe-Kaleo explained that when the ECG officials get to the premises of a customer, “they have a POS device which enables them to capture and verify the meter readings of customers and also take pictures of the readings and the meter.
“Once they capture this information, our back office receives the information instantly for billing process to commence. With the POS device, customers who even want an instant bill can request it from the ECG officials and their current bill will be printed from the device for them immediately,” he added.
She indicated that as part of the ongoing exercise, ECG staff had been well-equipped to train customers on how to read their meters as part of efforts to promote transparency between the company and its customers “so all customers should take an interest in the activities of our staff when they visit their premises and avail themselves for this education.”
The ECG Volta Regional General Manager indicated that ECG officials could be identified by their ID Cards, the reflector vests or by clicking the verify staff option on the ECG powerapp or shortcode *226#.
“When we get to your premises and you are not there, the team will leave a note with a phone number so please call the number and our customer service team will attend to you,” she added.
The digitised system, she said formed part of the company’s transformational projects to enhance operational efficiency, provide customer convenience and reduce system losses.
Ms Jatoe-Kaleo urged customers to desist from illegal connection and take advantage of the ongoing revenue mobilisation exercise dubbed ‘Operation Fix The Bill and Pay The Bill,’ to correct all anomalies and also pay their bills through the ECG powerapp or shortcode *226# to enable the company gather enough revenue to sustain the electricity supply chain.
