The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) no longer accepts cash payments at any of its 300 locations around the nation after nearly two years of testing a cashless payment system.
Customers will now have to choose between making a bank transaction or a digital payment using mobile money in order to buy power or pay their bills.
The action, which went into effect last Thursday, was part of measures to increase the effectiveness of the electricity distribution company's efforts to mobilize income.
"Over the last few months, we've made improvements to our digitalization system, and we're now prepared to roll out the payment platform, which is one of the crucial actions we've taken to boost our ability to generate income.
"We will no longer accept cash at any of the ECG payment offices with the use of our new digital payment platform.
Customers would have to choose between paying with mobile money or going to the bank, William Boateng, the director of communications, revealed in an interview.
He said that the ECG's most recent involvement was part of their larger strategy to enhance service delivery.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia introduced the 'ECG Power' mobile app in 2020 with the intention of enabling roughly 2.8 million of the 3.8 million consumers of the power distributor to purchase electricity at their own leisure.
At first, the service was only available to post-paid subscribers and those with smart prepaid meters.
However, the strategy was improved to completely integrate all clients following the trial phase and a performance evaluation.
What it does
Customers would need to dial *226# from the ECG purchasing app and follow the on-screen instructions to complete their payment.
Those who want to pay at the bank may get a deposit slip from their local ECG customer service center and then go make their payment. Alternatively, they can pay through their mobile money wallet on any of the many networks.
The customer's account would be instantly credited as soon as payment was made.
According to Mr. Boateng, this is because ECG has connected its payment system with all of the nation's banks, allowing clients to make payments at any bank of their choosing.
We are careful not to inconvenience our clients while improving the efficiency of our collection method, so they may pay with mobile money at any time and from any location.
Additionally, they do not need to show payment receipts at ECG since the technology enables payments to appear in customers' accounts immediately after they are made.
Additionally, there won't be any fees associated with utilizing the digital payment system, notably mobile money.
Only genuine invoices will be due from customers, he added.
Income generation
The ECG launched a countrywide revenue mobilization from March 20 to April 20 and aggressively pursued clients who had not paid their power consumption bills.
From a targeted GH5.7 billion due to the electricity distribution firm by people and businesses, it was able to recover GH3.1 billion.
In order to recover the remaining funds, the corporation has set aside the final week of each month for revenue mobilization.
In an effort to increase revenue collection, the administration of ECG has also designated the last week of the month for its mobilization exercise.
Additionally, while the business was developing a bill system that would verify the reading of prepaid meters in order to be able to combat illegalities and losses, the revenue assurance section of the ECG would make sure that bills were provided quickly for post-paid consumers.
Customers
Customers who have used the app have thanked the ECG for their assistance, saying that it is now easier to purchase electricity or pay bills without physically visiting an office.
They acknowledged that the procedure was time-consuming, though, and expressed the hope that the method might eventually become more practical.
The system worked when I tried it on Sunday; however, it took some time for me to finish the procedure of buying electricity.
"I think the ECG would have to step up their education on this latest intervention," Maame Yaa Tiwaa, an Adentan teacher, told the Daily Graphic.
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