Zesa ordered to carry out meter readings
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Herald Reporters
THE Competition and Tariffs Commission has ordered Zesa Holdings to carry
out actual meter readings when billing consumers.
This follows a probe by the commission into the power utility’s operations
vis-à-vis its tariff structure.
Zesa yesterday said it would comply with the order and had already
implemented some of the recommendations.
In a statement, the commission said: “Zesa should use actual meter readings
when billing its customers subject to the provisions of the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (Miscellaneous Charges) By-Laws” of 1998.
The CTC added: “In respect of non-metered domestic consumers countrywide
with load limiters, Zesa must reduce the fixed monthly energy charges to 57
percent, this being the ratio of the power availed for use by consumers for
the period between the 1st of February 2009 and November 2009.
“From 1st December 2009 onwards, the fixed monthly charges for such
consumers should be based on power availed taking into account
load-shedding.”
Zesa has been using estimates when billing many customers and this has seen
consumers grappling with accounts of up to US$400 per month in some cases.
The power utility yesterday said the changes would see average households
getting bills of between US$20 and US$30 per month.
On general billing, the commission ordered: “In respect to domestic metered
consumers based in Harare and
Bulawayo, the 1st of February 2009 should be used as the starting point of
Zesa’s new billing, and that all outstanding charges arising from this date
should be written off.
“Charges in respect of electricity consumed excluding fixed charges between
the 1st of February 2009 until 30 November 2009 should be in accordance with
the Minister of Energy and Power Development’s directive, that is, US$30 per
month for domestic consumers in high-density areas and US$40 per month for
domestic consumers in low-density areas.”
Those who were charged more than the US$30 and US$40 limits should have
their accounts accordingly credited.
It is understood that Zesa admitted during the investigations that it was
unable to read meters on a monthly basis due to loss of manpower, transport
constraints and corruption among staff.
The power utility was also told to exercise fairness in its load-shedding
schedule.
The commission urged Zesa to improve its relationship with customers by
notifying them of any disconnections before switching them off.
In an interview yesterday, Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said the
power utility would comply with the order though it was still waiting for
formal communication from CTC.
“The Tariff Commission is born out of an Act of Parliament so we will comply
with their orders but we have not yet received official communication,” he
said.
He said Zesa was already in the process of implementing some of the CTC’s
orders, such as crediting accounts of those charged more than what
Government set between February and November last year.
The CTC investigation was instituted in terms of Section 28 of the
Competition Act.
The commission said at its special meeting on July 8 this year, it found
that Zesa’s actions constituted “restrictive practices that are a
manifestation of the abuse of monopoly”.
Its orders were made in terms of Section 31(4) of the Competition Act
(Chapter 14:28).
Many consumers have not been paying their Zesa bills since the introduction
of the multiple currency system.
Some have complained that the estimated bills are too high while Zesa has
accused others of simply being negligent.
The power utility has invited consumers to come to their banking halls to
make arrangements to pay in instalments if they cannot cope with the monthly
bills.