GWCL to start electronic billing of customers nationwide
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has decided to replicate nationwide, the electronic water billing (e-billing) system, which the company is currently piloting in the Tema Municipality.
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The nationwide replication means there will be a shift from the current paper bill that is distributed by GWCL’s meter readers to its numerous customers throughout the country every month.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Communications Director of the GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey, explained that the e-billing system would be implemented by use of emails and phone text messages.
He assured the public that the new system was compatible with all types of mobile phones.
“The new electronic system will calculate the water consumption instantly and automatically send to customers their corresponding bills via text message and or e-mail,” he said.
Currently, the GWCL prepares its customers’ bills by manually keying into its billing system, readings manually recorded by the company’s meter readers.
The bills are then printed out and distributed by the meter readers to the numerous customers of the company; a situation which more often than not, results in some customers not receiving their bills for many months and, therefore, not paying their bills on time.
Data validation
Mr Martey said to facilitate the transition process; the company had sent text messages to customers in four regions to validate their records; as part of initial processes to facilitate the transition.
The regions are Greater Accra, Central, Ashanti and Western.
“All customers in the named regions who have still not received the SMS from GWCL are requested to kindly call at the nearest GWCL district office, to update or issue their customer details,” he said.
Mr Martey said alternatively, the customers who had not received the text messages could call the GWCL’s call centre to validate their details.
The call centre could be reached on text through 1700 and on whatsApp through 0555123393 or 0555155524.
He said the GWCL began sending e-bills concurrently with paper bills from March and would gradually cease delivering the paper bills.
“Customers are as a matter of urgency, expected to cooperate to ensure a smooth transition,” he said.
Mr Martey said data collection was still ongoing and appealed to customers to be supportive by providing their accurate details as requested.
Background
Giving a background to the new system, he said the GWCL introduced the electronic billing system to replace the old system in June 2016, on a pilot basis in the Tema Region.
He said the initiative formed part of measures to reform the company’s operations to ensure that it served the public better, which he said, the management of the GWCL had committed themselves to doing.
