Utility companies STELCO and MWSC have asked their customers to send snaps of their respective meters for bill preparation amid the lockdown of Greater Male’ Area to deter the spread of Covid-19.
The companies have said that they staff would not be visiting households to record meter readings this month and have urged customers to take the initiative and send the pictures of the meters to the companies.
In a statement, STELCO requested their customers in Male’ Area to send in the snapshots to the company via its portal http://www.stelco.com.mv/smr.
STELCO said even if the customers are unable to send in the pictures of the meters, the amount due on the bills would not be overly high. STELCO explained for households unable to send photos of the meters, the bill amount would be calculated based on the average electricity usage of the household in the past few months.
Meanwhile MWSC has asked their customers to send in the pictures of their meters and clearly mark the meter numbers before sending in the images. MWSC has sent the viber number to each customer, which they could use to send in the images of the meters.
MWSC has also arranged for customers to obtain its services by SMSing 1050. It said customers can text SUBSCRIBE space and type in the account number and meter number. To check the balance customers can text BAL space account number and meter number. For queries customers can text INQ space and type their questions and that the company would answer them.
The government has said it would subsidize 30 percent of the MWSC water services bill for the months of April and May amid the Covid-19 crisis. It also said it would subsidize 40 percent of the electricity bill for the same period as well.
