State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) and Waste Management Corporation Limited (WAMCO) have signed an agreement to include the waste collection fee in the electricity bill from June. The agreement was signed by the Managing Director of STELCO Ahmed Shareef and the Managing Director of WAMCO Yoosuf Siraj.
Speaking at the ceremony, Siraj said that the agreement was signed with WAMCO to facilitate customers to pay waste collection bills easily. He also said that both companies will work together to resolve any issues encountered through the collection of bills.
Furthermore, Siraj said that the electricity bill for households will be USD10 from June and that it will align with the electricity billing cycle. He said that the annual rate of USD116 in 365 days will be billed for the period stipulated in the electricity bill prepared by STELCO with USD0.32 charged for each day of the year.
WAMCO stated that the electricity bill for households will include the waste collection service bill next month and that it will align with the electricity billing cycle. It means that the period for which WAMCO will bill households is the period during which STELCO takes the metre readings. If the electricity billing period is 28 days, households will also have to pay for the waste collection service for that period. Therefore, if households pay their bills for a period of 28 days, the waste bill will not exceed USD10. However, the amount will exceed USD10 if billed for a 31-day period.
Following the changes, households will need to contact WAMCO to resolve issues that might arise in cases regarding households with two electricity metres and customers who live in two apartments in the same building. As such, customers will need to contact WAMCO to include the waste collection service bill for one of the two metres. WAMCO will also issue the bill for one metre in cases where STELCO has installed two metres in households with a deck. In addition, the waste bill will not be issued to large buildings with service meters or maintenance meters and 95% of such households have been removed from the billing list.
WAMCO has expressed concern over not receiving a large portion of its revenue, adding more than 53,000 households in Male' City are registered and only 20,000 households pay regular fees. The government stated that the company's cash flow is hampered due to non-payment of waste disposal bills but that the change will solve the current difficulties in collecting bills.
WAMCO stated that the relevant authorities decided to merge the waste collection service bill and the electricity bill to ease the convenience of customers who have to go through a lengthy process of registering with the company and submitting an additional form after they change their place of residence.