Ghana’s power distribution and electricity retailing company, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited has officially outdoored a Mobile Application for smart and prepaid meters customers as part of efforts to improve upon service delivery and also rake in more revenue.
The Mobile App, which was entirely designed by the internal ICT staff of ECG, would allow customers on all postpaid meters to use the channel to pay electricity bills.
Additionally, it would allow customers on Smart Prepayment meters namely; NURI, MBH, LIBERTY, ENERSMART, KAIFA, and CLOU to deposit money on their meters for electricity.
The Mobile App can be used by ECG customers who have Smart Prepayment Meters to recharge to credit for family and friends at any time of the day.
All that a customer needs to do is to go on the Google Play Store and download the ECG Power App and follow the instructions.
Speaking at the official launch of the Mobile Application christened ‘ECG POWER’, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Dr Mahamudu Bawumia noted that 2.8 million customers out of a total customer population of 3.8 million can access the ECG Mobile App.
According to him, 700,000 customers on Smart Prepayment meters and 2.1 million customers on post-paid meters are currently accessing the App.
Touching on the benefit to be derived from the Mobile App, Dr Bawumia said it would bring convenience to the numerous ECG’s customers.
“Just imagine being at home and it is 3am and you run out of power and you don’t have a way to essentially top up your meter. You will have to wait till the following morning and get onto a trotro or a taxi to go to the nearest vendor and pay and then you will get recharged. With this app, even if it is 3 in the morning and you run out of power, you just pick your phone and get recharged,” he explained.
Dr Bawumia, who described the initiative as timely, noted that the greatest challenge in the energy sector is its inability to collect revenue due it after supplying electricity to the consuming public.
“If we produce power and we are only able to collect sixty percent (60%) of the revenue, it means we have lost 40% of the revenue. The issue of solving the collection problem at ECG is a major part of solving the energy issue in Ghana,” Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said.
He further indicated that he is aware that the Board and Management of ECG are looking at applying technology in the collection process of its revenue.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of ECG, Kelly Gadzekpo, in his remarks, registered the delight of ECG to its Information Technology (IT) staff whom, he solely credited as those who developed the entire infrastructure of the new app, ‘ECG POWER’.
He also emphasised that an effective monitoring system has been instituted by the ECG to ensure that revenue generated by the App would be secured and guaranteed.
Dr Bawumia commended the staff of ECG for coming out with such an initiative.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of ECG, Kwame Agyeman-Budu congratulated the ICT team for the initiative, and said the App supplements existing channels of interface with customers and payment options open to them.
He revealed that his outfit would soon launch a national campaign dubbed: “If you see something, say something, and say it now,” with hash tag #saynotopowertheft to tackle illegal connection.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of ECG Kelly Gadzekpo, in his remarks registered the delight of ECG to her Information Technology (IT) staff who he solely credited as those who developed the entire infrastructure of the new app, ECG POWER.
He also emphasised that an effective monitoring system has been instituted by the ECG to ensure that revenue generated by the App would be secured and guaranteed.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com