Kenya power has defended itself against accusations of overcharging its consumers.
The company on Wednesday said it deals with its customers in a faithful and honest manner.
MD Ken Tarus said the firm has procured the services of 15 competitively procured agents to assist in the collection of the revenue.
He said currently, KPLC controls 65 per cent of the revenue generated from the sale of prepaid tokens but they aim at achieving 100 per cent control.
“We pay the agents on commission,” Tarus said during a live interactive session with Kenyans on Twitter.
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Users were asking questions using #StateOfKenyaPower #AskKenyaPower hashtags.
Tarus said KPLC is reviewing the current tariff regime to adopt a simplified one that will be easy for customers to interpret.
This was in response to customers’ queries on why they always receive varying units even when they spend the same amount of money.
“The structure around the tariffs is fairly complicated. There are certain elements within the bill that are not taxed. We are working on a tarrif structure that will be easily understood by our customers
Since 2013, fixed charges have risen from Sh150 to Sh174 for domestic consumers.
Average electricity tariffs have risen by 9 per cent since 2012 from Sh14.38 per unit to Sh15.65.
Fuel cost charge currently stands at Sh5.35, the highest since 2014.
Further, consumers also pay for inflation adjustments, Forex charge, ERC charge and REP charge apart from the actual token charge.
Tarus clarified that the company always makes adjustments whenever customers present complaints on postpaid bills.
There has been a public outrage since early this year by postpaid customers who claim their bills are inflated.
The Law Society of Kenya has since filed a court case over the same.
“Corrections were done to the postpaid bills. We normally carry out an adjustment if we over or under estimated your bill and you get a credit on your account."
He added: "We have witnessed improved hydrology in the main water reservoirs especially the Seven Fork Hydro Stations and therefore we expect a reduction in the fuel cost element in our customer's bills."
The MD said service provision for customers on the prepaid system is countrywide “and we do not discriminate in service delivery”.
He said competition in the service delivery sector will most likely push out some agents leaving only the best to serve customers.
Tarus dispelled claims that some agents were favoured during the tendering process saying all tenders were transparent.
He said all tender adverts and bid documents are published online adding that beginning this month, they will also start publishing all tender awards online.
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Tarus said KPLC is listed on the stock exchange and the Auditor General regularly reports on their books of accounts.
“I can confidently say that Kenya Power has been faithful and honest with its customers. We are regulated by Capital Markets Authority,” he said.
He said with the kind of investment that the company has made, the firm expects a lot of stability and quality power supply.
On new electricity connectivity, the MD said customers are either placed on the Last Mile or the Stima Loan platforms.
“With the last Mile, you have options to pay as you go or on a monthly basis. If you are on Stima Loan we deduct other charges and award units accordingly,” he said.
“Under Last Mil,e you do not need to apply. We are already going round doing the connections,” Tarus clarified.
He said KPLC plans to greatly improve the quality of power supply across the country.
“Over the last 3-4 years, the network has stabilized on account of our network improvement projects costing over Sh40 billion.”
Tarus said their toll free customer care service lines are open for consumers to register any complaints they may have.
“We have 95,551 which we use to pick out all voice calls. Our self Self Service app is up and running and unless there are network coverage issues, we are not aware of any challenges. We are happy to solve any issues you may have,” he said.
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