Sources at the Ministry of Electricity told Daily News Egypt that the electricity distribution companies suffer from low rates of collection of consumption bills and are intensifying efforts to raise the rates of collection in the household and commercial sectors. Meanwhile, there are some subscribers that have not paid the value of consumption for more than 24 months.
The sources added to Daily News Egypt that companies are seeking to collect their outstanding dues, using new methods, including imposing a fine on delayed bills, replacing mechanical metres with pre-paid metres, and filing reports on cases with violations.
The sources stressed that the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) issued instructions to all companies to apply the law to those who abstain from payment and remove the metre for those who default for three months.
The household and commercial sectors are most committed to paying bills for electricity consumption, unlike government agencies and administrative bodies that pay much less of their consumption value, according to data from the Ministry of Electricity.
The late dues of the electricity sector in government agencies, sovereign bodies, and administrative entities jumped to EGP 30bn by the end of November.
Administrative bodies and the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater hold most of the arrears. The Ministry of Electricity seeks to schedule the arrears so as not to accumulate debts and to be able to pay its own debts.
Some authorities and administrative bodies complained about the increase in electricity consumption bills during the past months, despite the fact that they did not pay the accumulated debts, and paid part of their monthly consumption bill, not the entire bill, which the Ministry of Electricity demanded to be paid regularly.
Household and commercial consumers also complained of high bills and some of them refused to pay.
