PPC varies its payback scheme in bid to boost bill collections

UPDATE – 16:26

The main power utility PPC, seeking to improve its unpaid receivables record, has decided to offer clients with arrears a range of payback programs and discounts geared to offer greater incentives for swifter debt settlement.

The revised payback program, to replace a previous plan offering clients the ability to settle electricity bill debt over 36 installments without any deposit, will now offer clients owing as much as 1,000 euros debt settlement over 24 monthly installments.

Clients owing amounts greater than 1,000 euros will have the choice of either paying a ten percent deposit and covering the remaining amount over 18 monthly installments or providing a 20 percent deposit as a condition to maintain their current 36-installment payback arrangements.

PPC customers owing amounts of up to 500 euros, a category comprised of nearly 1.2 million clients, will be offered a ten percent discount for punctual payment of exisiting installments.

Customers who had registered for PPC’s 36-installment payback program but missed paying two successive monthly installments and, as a result, were disqualified from the arrangement, can now reregister. However, payment of their next installments will need to be accompanied by payments of the two installments that were missed.

Earlier today, energypress reported:

A new and revised payback program expected to be endorsed today by the board at main power utility PPC will target payments from a pool of roughly 1.52 million customers who owe respective amounts of up to 1,000 euros and have not registered for the current payback program offering debt settlement through 36 monthly installments.

The majority of these clients, an estimated 1.23 million, have maintained debt owed to PPC at levels of up to 500 euros. This group of clients owes the power utility a total amount of roughly 146 million euros. Nearly 300,000 clients owe PPC amounts of between 500 and 1,000 euros, totaling 153 million euros.

PPC has so far opted to not cut power supply to clients owing amounts of up to 1,000 euros.

Data released by PPC for the first nine-month period of 2016 showed that 580,000 clients owing a total of 1.15 billion euros registered for the existing payback program. The revised program will be fine-tuned. PPC will use its 15 percent discount for punctual payments as a key tool in the offer.

Besides the new payback program, PPC is also expected to endorse a discount offer for clients willing to prepay a year’s worth of electricity bills, based on the previous year’s consumption level.

PPC officials believe that this prepayment measure, which was offered to Aluminium of Greece and prompted a cash injection of 100 million euros, can also by successfully applied to major-scale consumers such as industrial enterprises and retail chains.

As previously reported by energypress, PPC also intends to offer clients monthly bills, in the electronic format, as a move away from the conventional four-month billing system through the mail.