The Auditor General said incorrect billing by the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) for its consumers’ meter readings has led to a debt of P187 million.
In her report, the then-acting Auditor General, Keneilwe Senyarelo indicated that WUC’s “auditors noted debtors that were erroneously created within the debtors’ book.”
The report states that; “ Debtors worth P187 million were created in error through overclocking meter readings which were released for billing without correcting, resulting in individuals having large bills worth over P100 000 which were not reversed during the year.”
The latest findings by the Auditor General’s Office appear to confirm consumers’ fears and concerns about WUC’s excessive billing.
“Auditors also noted cases of repeated estimations where customer plots had not been visited for subsequent verification of consumption resulting in debt above P5000,” the report said.
The report also noted that WUC management committed to improving the situation by implementing day-end procedures that cover the meter to cash process, billing and credit control.
Further, the report says, WUC auditors noted some reconciling items that were long outstanding dating back to 2018 from different suppliers. The above was cited as a result of a lack of proper performance and timely review of supplier reconciliation.
“The auditors’ review of Botswana government debtors account revealed that transactions captured were between the Corporation and various government departments. They further identified transactions such as the Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) Levy, garnishee order death and GLA claim, stale cheques, and sitting allowance. This was indicative of lack of reconciliation review of ley accounts,” the report said.
WUC recorded a loss of P392.36 million in the year under review, compared to a loss of P174.49 million in the previous year. The report further indicates that operating expenses increased slightly by 1 percent from restated amount of P2.32 billion in the previous year to P2.34 billion in the year under review. The finance costs increased from P25.57 million in the previous year to P28.12 million in the year under review.
Revenue increased by 14 percent from P1.81 billion in the previous year to P2.07 billion in the year under review. Other income increased by 1 percent from P30.30 million in the year under review. The report shows that the utilities’ auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, noted that there were instances where payments were made to suppliers before year-end but the supplier accounts were not updated to reflect this, leading to non-genuine reconciling items.
