City improves its billing process


The initiative aimed at managing electricity usage in a reliable, safe and cost effective manner in the city. This project includes the changing of the old meters to the latest technology and the audit of the electricity meters in the Metro. Speaking about the project, Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) Project Manager Zanele Papa said, “The project kick started from the 15 September 2016 to 31 August 2020.” “The project is a transversal contact (RT 15/2016) done by BCMM and is supported by the National Treasury for a period of three years,” said Papa. “The City is aiming at replacing at least 200 industrial and commercial sites as part of the pilot phase to be implemented this current financial year then the program will be rolled out to the masses. To date, 189 smart electricity meters has been installed and integrating to the BCMM’s billing system.” “Approximately 63 have now been successfully installed and commissioned in King William’s Town area whereby the meters were not being read on monthly basis.” “The main benefits of the project for the consumer includes accurate billing, better monitoring of electricity consumption through a Mobile App and completeness of monthly billing,” she added. “At least R354 960 000 has been set aside for the implementation of the new smart system and the audit of the electricity meters.” A Mobile App (SmartWire) has been developed for consumers to monitor their electricity consumption. The App gives the consumer to view their electricity consumption in a 30-minute interval. The collected billing data can be viewed by BCMM customer via mobile communication application. The main benefits of the project for the consumer includes accurate billing, better monitoring of electricity consumption through a Mobile App and completeness of monthly billing. The City also has a control room (Intelligence Operating Centre) which is situated at the Munnifin building 3rd floor to deal with the roll out and implementation. In the later stage the City will have an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for easy access to consumers with queries. For more information on the programme kindly email the Project Manager’s Office on Smart_Metering_Query@buffalocity.gov.za

2018-09-19