Worried by the huge outstanding debt totalling over N121 billion, the management of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED), has engaged the services of an accredited agent to assist in debt recovery drive in three out of four states of its franchised area of coverage.
A statement signed by the Manager, Corporate Communications of the company, John Onyi, said that the agent would recover outstanding debt owed the company from the last six months from its customers in Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers States.
He said the decision by the management to appoint the agent was aimed at bringing the company out of its present abysmal financial status with a view to meeting its statutory obligations and also towards profit making.
“An accredited agent has been appointed by PHED, solely to recover debt from three states of her coverage area namely; Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers States, and it is saddled with the responsibility of going after Residential (Non-MD) indebted customers who have not made any payment to the company in the last six months.
Onyi however noted that while the agent would organise his team as he deemed appropriate to carry out the payment enforcement activities, the debt recovery team has not been authorised to collect money (electricity bills) from customers, but shall rather direct the customers to the different PHED payment channels, such as payment point at PHED offices, banks and accredited Gpay outlets for the payment of their outstanding bills.
In the same vein, customers with electricity related issues are advised to visit the nearest PHED office for prompt resolution before the arrival of the agent to their premises.
“The management, therefore, calls on all staff and indeed the members of public especially the electricity users to accord the newly appointed team the necessary support to get the job done and achieve sustainability of the company”, the statement said.