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Entebbe district will be the first to benefit from Umeme's policy to decentralize Meter Reading in Kampala and Greater Kampala regions. The Strategic move will save the Power Distribution company close to UGX 100,000,000/= in expenses on Meter Reading for Entebbe district alone. This is exclusive of many other intangible benefits accruing to the project. "This initiative is in line with Umeme's strategic objective of Increasing Business efficiency and Improving Customer Services. "Through the Entebbe Pilot, the company has also explored the option of Bill Distribution by Meter Readers as opposed to the current system where Bill distribution in Kampala is being done by a contracted firm, Yellow Pages Express," said Charlotte Kemigyisha UMEME's Corporate Communications Manager. Each Service district will now have a specific number of meter readers with a Supervisor allotted to it as opposed to having a centralized group of meter readers to serve Kampala and Greater Kampala regions. This is a system that is already fully operational in the upcountry districts. "Previously we had a Centralized Meter Reading system for the whole of Kampala Area, based at Kampala Metro Offices. Through this, districts or group of districts within Kampala were read in a week by all the readers. This time round, there will a dedicated team of Meter Readers for each of the Kampala Districts reading these meters on a daily basis. There will also be a dedicated Meter Reading Supervisor responsible for all Meter Reading and Bill Delivery issues in that district. On successful implementation of this pilot, the project will be rolled out to the rest of the Kampala districts, said Thomas Oryang, Meter Reading & Bill Delivery Manager In this Decentralization strategy, the Meter Reading Calendar will also be revised to a daily reading mode all through the month, as opposed to the current weekly arrangement. Consequent to this, some of our customers may notice a change in their consumption period. The number of days in between the Previous and Current Reading will be greater than the normal 30 days parameter. This is expected to bring about a noticeable increase in customers' bill during the transition Month. For Entebbe, the May Consumption will be affected through this initiative. However, in the subsequent months the monthly bill will normalize to the usual 30 days parameter. "Through this approach, you will be able to estimate your average monthly usage and budget better. Umeme Customers that may be affected during this transition period will be communicated to in writing and by text messages by their respective District Managers," Kemigyisha further stated. For More Information; please contact: Charlotte Kemigyisha, Corporate Communications Manager, Umeme Limited Charlotte.kemigyisha@umeme.co.ug ; +256 77 222 2200 |
