Waste Management Corporation Limited (WAMCO) has stated that the waste collection service bill will be aligned with the State Electricity Company Limited (STELCO) metre reading period from next month.
WAMCO is facing financial difficulties as many households do not pay the fees charged for waste collection. Therefore, WAMCO has decided to include the waste collection fee from households in the electricity bill to solve the issue. The rule will come into effect from next month.
WAMCO stated that the electricity bill for households will include the waste collection service bill next month and that it will align with the electricity billing cycle. It means that the period for which WAMCO will bill households is the period during which STELCO takes the metre readings. If the electricity billing period is 28 days, households will also have to pay for the waste collection service during that period. Therefore, if households pay their bills for a 28-day period, the waste bill will not exceed USD10. However, the amount will exceed USD10 if billed for a 31-day period.
Following the changes, households will need to contact WAMCO to resolve issues that might arise in cases regarding households with two metres and customers who live in two apartments in the same building. As such, customers will need to contact WAMCO to include the waste collection service bill for one of the two metres. WAMCO will also issue the bill for one metre in cases where STELCO has installed two metres in households with a deck. In addition, the waste bill will not be issued to large buildings with service meters or maintenance meters and 95% of such households have been removed from the billing list.
WAMCO has expressed concern over not receiving a large portion of its revenue, adding more than 53,000 households in Male' City are registered and only 20,000 households pay regular fees. The government stated that the company's cash flow is hampered due to non-payment of waste disposal bills but that the change will solve the current difficulties in collecting bills.
WAMCO stated that the relevant authorities decided to merge the waste collection service bill and the electricity bill to ease the convenience of customers who have to go through a lengthy process of registering with the company and submitting an additional form after they change their place of residence.