A scheme to expand the customer base of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) beyond the current N554,000 has been launched in Port Harcourt. Officials who spoke at the unveiling of EasyPay USSD scheme said it would make the PHED become the first DisCo to meet the recent regulatory mandate for total online payment for total transparency.
Unveiling the scheme, the managing director of PHED, Henry Ajagbawa, said the new commitment to light up Port Harcourt in next 12 months required an aggressive bill collection system that would boost revenue to execute urgent services.
He commended EasyPay’s pay and get paid initiative. “With this system of payment in place, we are determined to give value for your money by enhancing the payment method. We hope to come up with many more, but be assured that we would not rest until we get this city and our other three zones where we have presence well lit upon the next 12 months.”
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PHED’s plan to boost power supply hinges on its decision to take over a transmission project from TCN to add about 48 mw at the Rumosi station. The company has also divided its zone into 64 feeders and allocated revenue per feeder.
That seemed to inform the employment of some 355 marketers to focus on specific feeders with amounts to generate from each. Those who would meet at least 80 per cent of the target would be upgraded, it was gathered.
The new energy ‘detectives’ would work with the USSD scheme to make customers pay from wherever they may be located. There would be no excuse of distance to payment point or lack of network to do online transfer, it was gathered.
The CEO who was represented by GM, Services, Ochuko Amah, said the USSD system is yet another innovation from PHED to turn around the company and ensure they become the number one electricity distribution company in Nigeria.
“We are therefore, poised to conquer constraints by way of distance, time and money. Our new payment channel makes it easy to pay and you even get paid for paying via the USSD channel.”
The CEO of EasyPay, Lucky Omonedo, said the firm was a very innovative one and that they valued passion, integrity and reliability.
Explaining how the scheme works, the media consultant to the USSD scheme, Chinedu Amah of Spark group, said it was to create capacity for customers.
He said the smallest phone can use USSD to transfer money to PHED and be free of debts. He said the system offered alternatives to customers in terms of easy payment mechanism so as the boost eagerness to pay.
Besides, those who log on to EasyPay system would have a bonus wallet to accumulate bonus acceptable in top corporations in Nigeria. He said they would over 10 million network of customers nationwide and top banks and organizations using the system.
