Suburban
Harare residents have hailed the partnership between the City of Harare (CoH) and mobile phone operator Econet, which has made it possible to send out bills on the SMS platform to residents.
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
Residents applauded the move with some saying they had received their bills for the first time in a long time.
Announcing the new development on their social media handles, the CoH said: “Council has partnered Econet and Ecocash to send bills via the SMS platform. Some residents have started receiving the SMS bills. Kindly note this is part of e-governance and e-billing.”
The residents, however, urged council to move from the SMS platform to e-mails or WhatsApp so that the ratepayers can get the whole statement reflecting what they would have paid.
BRRA committee member Mrs Pat Townsend applauded the partnership but said residents are complaining that the CoH bills never reflect the payments made, despite residents sending their proof of payment.
“The CoH partnership with Econet is a step forward as residents are finally receiving their bills for the first time in a long time. However, residents are complaining that their payments are not showing on their statements (if they are receiving via email) even though they send proof of payment. We appeal to CoH to please sort this problem out as soon as possible,” said Mrs Townsend.
Harare residents have been complaining about the CoH’s billing system. The municipality ditched the BIQ billing system following a dispute with the suppliers of the system. It migrated to a new system which has also proved a nightmare as residents continue to get statements not showing their payments.
It seems the problem is continuing with the new SMS billing as payments are not reflecting and residents are also not getting their full statements.
