State-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) is introducing computerised state-of-the-art power billing systems aimed at solving the problem of accumulation of bills by its customers.

The introduction of computerised billing comes in the wake of awful revelations that the power utility firm owes its customers, both government and private institutions, a whopping Sh300 billion.

Newly appointed Tanesco managing director William Mhando, who officially takes office today, revealed that out of the Sh300 billion debt, the utility firm owes government institutions such as the Tanzania People's Defence Forces and the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (Dawasa) a total of Sh58.5 billion.

The power utility company owes private institutions and individuals Sh241.5 billion, Mr Mhando told a news conference at the firm's headquarters along Morogoro Road in Dar es Salaam, adding that customers whose bills have accumulated will be disconnected from the power grid.

"The computerised smart metres will enable Tanesco employees to read electricity metres across the country from the firm's headquarters (in Dar es Salaam)," he said, adding that the firm has started installing the new metres and that the work will be completed by December this year.

"With these smart metres in place, power disconnection from dishonest customers will now be done right from Tanesco headquarters instead of physically visiting our customers," he said.

Another strategy involves installing automatic metre readers to avoid issuance of incorrect bills, Mr Mhando said in the presence of some company employees.

He said Tanesco was also installing LUKU recharge metres for customers throughout the country, adding that the firm was also mobilising customers to use mobile phone network providers and automated teller machines (ATMs) in buying electricity.

"We have prepared ourselves well to ensure that Tanesco is back on track," he said. However, he cautioned that investment in power required colossal amounts of money; something he said could not have been achieved overnight.

"We will have to improve our speed and teamwork" he added.

Regarding the special operation to reclaim the accumulated debt, Mr Mhando said the money to be recovered from the exercise could be used in improving power generation, transmission and distribution.

He said 60 per cent of the debtors, both government and private institutions, were from Dar es Salaam's three districts of Kinondoni, Ilala and Temeke.

"This huge debt is a hindrance to Tanesco's efforts to meet our customers' demand for electricity," Engineer Mhando said.

While declining to name the leading offenders, he said the special operation to collect debt, which begins today and will cover the whole country, will heavily target private institutions and individuals.

"However, the operation will not directly involve government institutions because we have laid down a procedure to collect government debt after first giving the concerned institutions a notice," he explained.

He said that he hoped the exercise of collecting debt from government institutions would not face any hitches. He noted, for example, that TPDF was in the final stages of paying its debt.

Eng Mhando warned Tanesco customers to be wary of conmen who pose as bona fide employees of the firm, commonly referred to as vishoka in Kiswahili, warning that these bad elements could use the operation as a golden opportunity to pocket money from unsuspecting customers.

He said during the house to house operation which is expected to last three months from today, Tanesco technicians will don company uniforms, carry identification cards and use company vehicles bearing Tanesco logos.

The Tanesco boss said debtors who will fail to honour their accumulated bills will have their electricity disconnected. He added that failure to pay bills in three months will make the affected customers liable to loss of their service lines.

"And if they fail to pay their debt after six months from the day electricity was disconnected, the next step will be sending them to court," said Mr Mhando.

He appealed to Tanesco customers to leave receipts for their payments at home, explaining that the operation will also involve checking illegal power connections.

He warned that people who have made illegal connections or those who use electricity without owning valid accounts should contact Tanesco offices to legalize their connections.

He said the power utility firm was also implementing projects funded by various financiers, including the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank, to upgrade power voltage in Dar es Salaam.

Feasibility studies aimed at upgrading power voltage in the face of increasing numbers of customers in Dar es Salaam were also underway, he added.

Tanesco has a total power generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts a day but is currently generating an average of 763 megawatts a day, while the maximum demand stands at 791 megawatts per a day.