E-billing more effective - SWASCO

SOUTHERN Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO) says the introduction of e-billing and electronic payment systems has eased the way of doing business.

Customers will now be able to pay their bills through Airtel Money and other electronic payment platforms.

Swasco public relations officer, Lungowe Mutumwenu, said the water utility firm was owed colossal sums of money in form of water bills but was happy that the introduction of the electronic system would make resource collection much easier.

She was speaking when she featured on a community radio programme in Siavonga monitored by the Daily Nation. She added the water company had an ambitious plan to improve service to customers and that could only be possible with support from all stakeholders.

Ms Mutumweno urged customers to take advantage of the e-billing to settle the bill without the hustle of getting to the pay- points physically.

‘’As a company we are owed a lot of money in bill arrears as far back as five years ago. For example, where we have 1,700 customers, about 700 are defaulting,” she said.

Ms Mutumwenu said the company needed resources for investment in water infrastructure in order to connect more customers to the network as mandated by Government.

Meanwhile, some callers to the programme expressed reservations on the introduction of e-payment of bills through Airtel money.