POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality says residents’ problems with incorrect or late billing will soon be a thing of the past.
During a council meeting last Friday, mayor Freddy Greaver announced that the municipality would be moving into the new era of electronic billing.
He said the most recent municipal bills had a special space allocated to resident’s updated details. He said residents should provide the municipality with their cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses so that they could receive their bills in electronic format soon.
According to Greaver, the new billing system would be fully operational from the middle of the year.
In the beginning, the municipality would make use of both electronic and printed bills. Then the mailing accounts will be phased out systematically. Greaver said this would save the municipality and the taxpayer, a lot of money.
Municipal spokesperson, Matshidiso Mothapo said the plan was to introduce electronic billing from February. He said the billing cost, currently R6, will be cut in half when the new system is up and running.
“We often get complaints that printed statements are sometimes not received on time or not at all. It (electronic billing) is environmentally friendly and bills can be delivered anywhere.
“More people use mobile phones to engage in content as opposed to paper. As part of the municipality’s smart city concept we have to ensure its operations are efficient and environmentally friendly,” he said.
Mothapo said electronic payment options were already available and rate payers could pay their accounts using debit or credit cards.
He said the new system also provided for two-way communication between the municipality and residents in the form of a reply path.
Unfortunately, this function will not be available at the start of this new programme, but would be rolled out at a later stage.
