THE Harare City Council (HCC) has initiated discussions on a proposal to relink the electricity with the rates bills, NewsDay Business can reveal.
The electricity bill was removed from the rates bill in the 1980s when Zesa Holdings, the national power utility firm, took over the payments of electricity.
In an interview with NewsDay Business, HCC spokesperson Stanley Gama said the council had informed the ministries of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion and of Local Government and Public Works of the proposal to accelerate the relinking of the power and rates bill.
“We have begun the discussions, but they need to be accelerated and we have notified the Ministry of Finance and also the Local Government ministry so that they can assist us in fast-tracking the discussions,” he said.
Under the proposed system, Zesa will continue to issue electricity bills independently, while the council would maintain its own rates billing.
“Zesa will bill as normal and the city the same. We just want to marry the two bills. In terms of timelines, as the city, we want this implementation as soon as possible and that’s one of the issues the mayor [Jacob Mafume] is pushing on a daily basis,” Gama said.
Regarding revenue management, Gama said that both Zesa and the council would receive payments as per their respective dues.
“The bottom line is if the city is owed US$100 and Zesa is owed US$200m they will get money due to them,” he said.
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The detailed modalities of the handling of these payments will be finalised during the ongoing discussions, Gama said.
The move is intended to streamline the billing process and improve efficiency in revenue collections.
When contacted for comment on the potential relinking of the electricity bill with the rates bill, Zesa stated that it had not received the proposal and was, therefore, unable to provide any feedback or insights on the matter.
