EWSC explains unusual water bills

MBABANE – The Eswatini Water Services Corporations (EWSC) has been flooded with queries following bills which were issued by the utility company since last Saturday.

This is after a large number of their customers were sent bills which in some instances reflected that they were owing double their monthly consumption rates.

Some other bills reflected that the customers owed water that was to the tune of four digits, something which caused a majority of the corporation’s customers to take to social media to voice out their concerns.

Some of the social media users stated that they lived alone and barely consumed water amounting to over E200 per month and, therefore, they were surprised to have monthly bills of E500 when they had not done anything differently or even had leaking pipes. In response to the concerns raised, the EWSC acknowledged that there were billing queries relating to the July and August 2021 bills, which were issued from September 18, 2021.

In a statement from the Public Affairs and Customer Experience Department, they clarified that the bills were a reflection of actual consumption over the two month period which was July and August 2021.

“Any payment made from September 1 to date will not be reflected on the bill statement,” reads the notice.

The corporation further stated that the two months bill had been split over the two months to avoid customers being billed on higher bands as a result of the cumulative bill, adding that they had further reversed the estimated bills.

“The corporation extends sincere apologies for the negative experience customers may have had with these bills and acknowledges with full commitment to handle each complaint with the utmost care and attention it deserves,” further reads the notice.

Encouraged

EWSC further encouraged customers to settle their bills and if they had queries to bring these forward through their service and contact centres.

The organisation’s Public Affairs and Customer Experience Department head, Nomahlubi Matiwane, acknowledged that the notice was from them.

The institution further urged customers awaiting to have their complaints resolved to pay what they normally consumed to avoid increased bills.

It was further reported that the earlier communicated systems issue experienced by the corporation, which affected issuing of bills, had been fully resolved. Meanwhile, Parliament recently approved a 6.6 per cent water tariff hike.