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An increase in billing complaints precipitated the digital move
Ghana has started to roll out advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) technology and adjusted its billing system in certain regions in a bid to more accurately capture usage.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) recently deployed a digital billing system and enhanced its PowerApp to address billing challenges faced by customers.
This is aimed at streamlining the process of collecting electricity consumption data and to ensure customers pay exactly the amount of energy consumed.
The AMI technology allows for real-time data collection and remote monitoring of electricity consumption.
Digital metering in Ghana to cut out billing inaccuracies
ECG said this transition from traditional manual meter reading to digital systems would reduce human error, improve billing accuracy, and enhance overall service delivery.
The new system is designed to address estimated billing, incorrect billing, and over-billing – issues customers across Ghana have had to endure.
ECG Acting General Manager in the Ashanti West Region, Emmanuel Osei-Amoako, told local media recently that the ECG PowerApp has a feature that enables postpaid customers to submit their meter readings and receive their bills to make it easy for them to pay their bills on time.
He said that with the digitised system, it is end-to-end which means customers “can see what is happening.”
This digitised system forms part of the company’s “transformational projects to enhance operational efficiency, provide customer convenience, and reduce system losses drastically.”
Changing billing system
On Thursday (31 October) ECG confirmed that it had started an initiative to ensure the monthly, as opposed to quarterly, readings of meters for its customers in the Volta and Oti Regions.
This too is geared toward addressing billing discrepancies and is “in response to ongoing concerns about inaccuracies in quarterly billing as the Company strives to ensure that customers receive bills reflective of their actual electricity usage.”
Solomon Adjiku, ECG’s Regional Commercial Manager, said the company had been “actively engaging” with meter readers across various districts to “reinforce the importance of accurate readings.”
“Moving to monthly meets readings will not only help us reduce billing errors but also foster better communication with our customers,” he was quoted by the Ghana News Agency as saying.
Adjiku said the company wants customers to feel confident that they are paying exactly for the amount of electricity they had consumed.
The decision to move from quarterly to monthly billing is part of a broader initiative by ECG to improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience.
“It is crucial that we are diligent in our reading and maintain the highest standards of accuracy,” said Adjiku.
Earlier this year, as part of a Loss Reduction Programme (LRP), an initiative to facilitate the installation of smart meters and to improve energy accounting, the ECG reportedly replaced 450,000 old meters in the Accra West region. |
