Tamale, Feb 18, GNA – Northern Electricity Distribution Company Limited (NEDCo) has launched an Electronic Payment Platform (E-platform), which offers customers the opportunity to either pay their bills (as post-paid customers) or buy electricity units (as pre-paid customers) directly from their mobile money wallets.
NEDCo customers are to use the short code *914# or visit www.nedcogh.broadspectrumltd.com to access the web portal or download the NEDCo mobile app to access the E-platform.
With this service, pre-paid customers, who run out of power at odd hours like deep in the night or while it is raining, will not be found wanting.
In like manner, because of easy access to payment channels, post-paid customers need not wait till their monthly bills have grown into huge debts.
Mr Osmani Ayuba, Managing Director of NEDCo, who gave details of the E-platform during its launch in Tamale on Friday, said it marked a giant step in the company’s march from a laid-back reactive public service provider to a responsible and proactive customer-focused one.
Mr Ayuba said the development of the E-platform was in response to calls by customers for a more flexible and accessible medium through, which they could purchase power and, pay their bills adding “We took a cue from this and of course, the government’s digitisation drive and resolved to positively respond to our cherished customers.”
He said the E-platform had been on trial for a few months now and “We are proud to announce that the transaction success rate so far has been tremendous; in the isolated cases where there have been challenges, the after-sales support has been impressive.”
He spoke about the benefits of the E-platform to the company saying “It makes us more efficient as our customers are able to make payments with less stress and at less cost. It even provides us, customers and NEDCo alike, with security – customers can safely pay their bills or purchase power from the safety of their wallets while NEDCo does not have to fret about how to secure the lives of cashiers, who go to remote areas for cash collection as well as the safety of the cash so collected.”
He added that “It portends to help us reduce our losses and improve our collection rates, both of which are key indicators over which our regulator, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, never glosses; indeed, our very survival depends on these.”
Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister for Energy commended NEDCo for introducing the E-platform saying “It provides the client with convenient and comforting payment options, which is very likely to reduce the pressures on them. It can also incentivise the payment of bills because clients can save on transportation fare and even the risk of piling bills will become a thing of the past.”
Dr Adam told the public that “The times when we could use power for free are long gone. We must be ready to pay for the power we use just as we pay for our mobile phone credits and data. The trick is to be smart at our management of electricity – to minimise cost, let us all avoid its misuse and pay for that which we use.”
He spoke about recent reports of a frosty relationship between NEDCo and its clientele in some isolated cases in Tamale urging the company and its customers to resort to dialogue to prevent such occurrences in future.
Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister urged NEDCo to continue to work to respond to the needs of customers to ensure efficiency and increased revenue generation.
Alhaji Saibu assured that the Regional Coordinating Council would continue to support NEDCo to ensure that there was no impediment on its way regarding power distribution in the region.
GNA/