JEDDAH, 9 December 2006 — Electricity and water bills will be distributed as a unified bill in the cities of Riyadh and Buraidah beginning tomorrow as part of a cost-cutting measure that would also facilitate payment of the bills. Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen will inaugurate the distribution of combined bills at a ceremony in Riyadh.
Saleh Al-Awaji, deputy minister for electricity affairs, said the joint bill for water and electricity would be issued after every three months. “The electricity bill is usually issued every month while the water bill is issued after every three months, and now we have decided the distribution of joint bills after every three months,” he explained.
The implementation of the program in the central region comes after its successful execution in the Eastern Province where it was inaugurated on July 30, 2005.
“We selected Dammam for the tryout phase of this system because it is a medium-sized city. We carried out the experiment there for three months. It was a big success,” he said.
Al-Awaji said subscribers shouldn’t worry about the system. “There is no big change. Instead of receiving two bills at two different times, they will receive one bill at one time. This will facilitate payment of bills.”
The Dammam success story encouraged the ministry to introduce the new system in Riyadh and Buraidah as a prelude to applying the system all over the Kingdom. A team from the ministry has conducted a survey of water and electricity meters. Saudi Electricity Company will issue and distribute the combined bills in coordination with the Department of Water.
Subscribers will be able to pay the bills of water and electricity either together or separately, Al-Awaji said, adding that they could also approach the relevant agencies if they found any discrepancies in the bills.
“We have noticed that most people pay their electricity bills regularly. We want to achieve the same for water bills,” he added.
He said that distribution of combined bills would help save both time and effort. “Instead of two persons distributing the bills separately, one can do the job cutting the cost by half,” he pointed out.
