Ten years ago, the national electricity company SNEL experimented with an advance payment system for network subscribers. This system was intended to solve the problems of consumer fraud and to replenish the corporate coffers. Is the experiment crucial?
From our correspondent in Lubumbashi,
In the Katuba municipality of Lubumbashi, the subscribers of the national electricity company SNEL have been consuming electrical energy in advance for one year. Before this period, invoicing was monthly and fixed, ie. almost $ 20.
Grandpa holds his phone booth. He says he is happy with the new invoicing method, because with 5,000 francs, equivalent to 2.5 dollars, he gets energy credit for a whole month. “Invoicing in advance mode is very advantageous, because everyone consumes the electrical energy they need and we have electricity all the time. In addition to saving the energy credit, for example during the day, we have to turn off the light bulbs, he says.
“We can not cover the month”
This is not the case for other parts of the city where subscribers are subject to the same billing method. They are not properly supplied with electrical energy, as testified by Patrick, who lives in the Gécamines district.
“At first it was interesting. We bought energy credits for 5,000 or 10,000 francs. Even if we connected a freezer, TV or stove, we consumed it until the end of the month. At present this is no longer possible, the minimum that can be used is 30,000 francs and we can not cover the month. What do we do ? During the day we consume the energy in advance and in the evening we make the false connection to consume electricity for free, Patrick explains.
A success according to SNEL
Since 2010, 19,000 of 175,000 subscribers in the Katanga region have been invoiced in advance, ie. just over 10%. Despite the customers’ difficulties, SNEL believes that the experimental phase is a success.
“From a commercial point of view, we no longer issue invoices, we no longer do index readings and even collections,” says William Ngoy, Commercial Director of SNEL, in the Katanga region. We note that the places where we have placed these meters, the electric cabins are less saturated, we do not have enough cables, people use their energy rationally and we still have a little more to give to other customers. ”
After this phase, SNEL intends to extend this billing method to include more subscribers in order to reduce the waste of electrical energy and thereby distribute it to Congolese readers who do not have access to it.
