The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings, has successfully transitioned 95% of its domestic and small business customers from a post-paid to a prepaid billing system.
ZESA Executive Chairman Sydney Gata recently disclosed that the power utility is owed over ZiG5.7 billion by its customers, which includes domestic households, industries, commercial entities, and government departments.
In a recent statement, ZETDC announced that all medium and large customers in the commercial, industrial, tourism, and mining sectors, and institutions still on post-paid billing will be required to switch to prepaid billing for their electricity consumption starting next month. Reads the statement:
ZETDC would like to advise its valued customers that the migration of domestic and small business customers from post-paid platform to the prepaid platform has progressed well with 95% of the customers on the new platform.
This notice serves to advise that ALL medium and large customers in the Commercial, Industrial, Tourism, Mining sectors and Institutions that are still on postpaid billing, will be required to Prepay for their electricity consumption with effect from 01 October 2024.
Customers are therefore advised to settle all their outstanding bills by 30 September 2024, and implementation modalities will be communicated to account holders ahead of implementation.
Customers can contact their account managers or their nearest customer service centre for more information and assistance during the transition.
The prepayment system will empower customers in managing their electricity consumption and capacitate the utility in improving service delivery and achieving energy security.
Gata said as of August 12, 2024, the mining industry owed the power company ZIG684.8 million, or 12% of the total debt, while industrial users owed ZESA 50% of the debt, or ZiG2.8 billion.
The amount owed by domestic consumers is ZiG84.6 million (1%) while the amount owed by commercial debtors is ZiG656.99 million (12%).
This substantial debt has placed considerable strain on ZESA’s financial position, restricting its capacity to invest in infrastructure and cover operational costs.
