Prepaid meters will be rolled out around the country by early next year, officials at the Al Nama Holding Group said.
“We are expanding prepaid meters in a major way for all our customers. It will cover the entire country by the end of this year or start of next year,” Omar Al Wahaibi said during a press conference.
The effort is a part of the initiative by the holding group to improve efficiency and digitise payment methods.
Currently, Oman has two methods to prepay for electricity—Sabiq—a prepaid meter, where customers can pay their bills before using and Shihab—an e-wallet application that enables people to use debit cards to pay their bills similar to credit recharging that is widely used by telecom operators.
“It is a part of our strategy to increase the use of technology to be efficient and accurate in payment options. We have started electronic bills that are sent through emails. We also started automated meter readings last year and continue to expand this year as they are more cost effective and improve the billing process. Out of the OMR448 invested, a lot has gone into implementing these technologies and we will continue to do it,” he said.
The prepaid meter also aims to encourage an energy-saving lifestyle. By using the prepaid meter, customers will be able to monitor their consumption in real time and identify devices that can save power by turning them off or reducing their usage, he said.
According to officials earlier, recharge facility for the ‘Sabiq’ meters has been made available by the company through more than 1,200 outlets across different malls, hypermarkets, shopping centres and petrol stations. Necessary arrangements have also been made to avoid disconnection of power supply during the official holidays or from 3.00pm to 10.00am next day.
Residents in the country were happy about the expanding footprint of prepaid meters.
“It’s like a phone recharge card. Sometimes when you have a post paid, you tend to over use and waste money, but with prepaid you are made aware of your balance every time.
“This helps people plan their budget. This will surely help reduce electricity consumption,” Suhail Ahmed a resident of Barka said.
“I have been using the ‘Sabiq’ service for past six months, because I used to get some very high bills. When I started using this, I realised how many times I left my lights and AC on and because of this I used to finish off the whole credit in less than two months. Six months later, I know exactly how much I will use every day. It’s excellent to be in control of your bills,” Mohammed al Balushi, a consultant at an audit firm in Oman, said.