The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has introduced a new billing and payment system with effect from June 1, management has announced.

The new system will be piloted in the Tema Region of the Company, according to a release, and then later scaled up to cover the entire country “upon successful implementation”.

A release on Sunday, June 5 explained that by the new system, meter readers will be capturing customer consumption data with a hand-held android device equipped with a software which already has customers’ data.

“The system will calculate customer’s water consumption and automatically send them their corresponding bill via text message (SMS) and/or e-mail,” the release said.

“Customers are therefore required to make available to GWCL, two reliable cell phone numbers each and email addresses if possible, to receive their bills,” it urged.

‘Ghana Water’ payment scratch cards

Once alerts on bills are received, customers will have to make prompt payments by purchasing ‘Ghana Water’ scratch cards from customer service points or any authorized vendor.

“Disconnection teams have been setup to disconnect ALL customers who default in paying their bills promptly,” the release warned.

It also said a GPS-monitoring system has been put in place to check all malpractices against the Company.

This new move by the utility company comes in the wake of a controversial software anomaly hitting the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana

Twitter: @kwame_amoh