13 November 2013, Kampala – After a series of complaints over Umeme’s late delivery of consumers’ power bills, the power distributor has said it would be better if people applied to receive their bills via e-mail. Managing Director Charles Chapman said less than 10 per cent of consumers received their bills via e-mail.
“You know it’s really hard for someone to physically deliver bills without delay or any hiccups,” Chapman said. He was speaking at the launch of a partnership with Uganda telecom last week, under which UTL customers will also start paying power bills through its mobile money platform, M-Sente.
On several occasions, customers blame Umeme for failing to give them bills on time. Chapman also said customers should embrace pre-paid meters, which do not require bills.
“We have connected over 40,000 people on Yaka. We want to reach 50,000 by the end of this year,” he said. UTL’s Managing Director Ali Amir says the partnership with Umeme is critical in offering the much-needed convenience to its customers. The company says it has about 6,500 customers on the M-Sente platform. Amir said clients paying a bill through UTL would be charged a flat rate of Shs 600.
– The Observer