Council upgrades billing system
BULAWAYO City Council has enlisted the services of a South Africa-based software developer — Quill Associates — to roll out a four-phased United States dollar billing system with the council saying the project implementation is urgent.
The local authority is implementing the US dollar receipt system which it says is not compulsory based on a resolution approved in July to bill consumer accounts in foreign currency.
In the latest council report, Finance Director Mr Tennyson Mpunzi said billing in US dollars was a technical issue that needed the assistance of the council’s software developer Quill Associates.
Mr Mpunzi said the council has a running contract with the developer, renewable annually.
The contract stipulates that the council would pay for any new developments made in the system.
A meeting involving Quill Associates and top council officials led by Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, IT manager, and finance manager (Accounting Services) was held in Harare.
“Following this meeting, a roadmap was crafted with the view that the July 2023 billing was to be done in US$. The service provider advised that the US$ bill must resemble the current bill.
“The external and internal auditors must be notified of the intended change and requested to give their opinion. Legally all system changes must be acceptable. The consumers must be able to understand the changes that were made to their bill/statement.
“The BCC staff must be able to understand the implication changes that would be to the billing process,” said Mr Mpunzi.
Mr Mpunzi said as of 29 June 2023 all debts had been converted to United States Dollars using a certain rate.
According to the report, Quill Associates proposed to implement the US dollar billing system in phases that have different payment rates.
“The service provider had charged for the services per each phase, and the charges were as follows: Phase 1: R170, 360 Phase 2: R138, 688 Phase 3: R312, 048 Phase 4 would be changed depending on the number of reports expected to be converted.
“All the charges excluded any taxes. Currently, Phase 1 was already completed and the production of bills/statements in US$ was ready to be rolled out. Phase 2 was already started but was on the testing phase.
“Billing in US$ was treated as an urgent matter due to the ever-changing bank rates, the need to produce July 2023 bills in US$ and the council eagerness to maintain values in US$ terms. The service provider was therefore requested to start immediately,” reads part of the report.
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mlandu Ncube supported the migration to the US dollar bill saying the currency would remain stable.
He suggested that council should craft a policy which would encourage residents to pay their bills in time.
The Town Clerk said the billing system would be advantageous to residents because the local currency was stabilising but said paying in foreign currency was not compulsory.
Consumers were at liberty to pay with any currency of their choice, he said-chronicle
