Tshwane delivers bills via SMS
2008-01-29 21:05
Johannesburg - A Short Message Service (SMS) to deliver water and electricity bills was introduced by the City of Tshwane on Tuesday.
Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for the city's finances William Mahlangu said he was satisfied that the SMS billing was indeed underway.
"The first 122 SMSs were sent out yesterday (Monday) to consumers, advising them of their balances and amounts due. The next batch went out today (Tuesday) at 06:00," said Mahlangu.
He said the city had also deployed two people in front of the BKS building on Pretorius Street to assist people to complete forms indicating their mobile phone numbers and email addresses for the database.
The city will be sending bills via e-mail as well.
"One of the benefits of this initiative will be timeous delivery of water and electricity bills to residents and other customers," said Mahlangu.
To receive bills via SMS and e-mail facilities customers had to complete specific forms.
"We appeal to all our customers to complete the forms with the requested data and to post them back - or hand them in at any of the Customer Care centres in Tshwane.
"We want to improve our direct communication with residents. We really hope that SMS and email messaging will assist us to render a better service," Mahlangu said.
- SAPA