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TelOne has joined other service providers that have cancelled debts running into millions of dollars owed by clients. The other service providers that have cancelled bills are Zesa and local authorities. Government directed the 92 rural and urban councils to write off debts owed by residents for rates and bills from February 2009 when the country introduced multi-currency to 30 June this year.

All the councils have since complied with the order and residents started on a clean slate as from 1 July this year. The councils had to write off millions of dollars and the move was meant to bring relief to millions of Zimbabweans who have been battling to clear the arrears as many of them are out of employment. Most industries have either closed or have scaled down operations due to economic challenges facing the country.

Zesa has also implemented a debt relief for its consumers by reducing the arrears for each bill by $160. Those consumers who do not owe Zesa anything had their accounts credited by the same amount. TelOne, in response to appeals from its landline subscribers, has also resolved to cancel $257,82 from every account giving a total of $63 million debt it intends to write off.

The communication company said in addition, it has also resolved to write off rentals accrued on all lines that had been disconnected for non-payment or were not working and this means that about $16 million will be written off. The company therefore plans to write off a total of $79 million owed by its subscribers. The move by these service providers that have decided to write off debts owed by clients is most commendable coming at a time when most consumers of these services have been finding it very difficult to clear their arrears.

Residents, as already alluded to, started on a clean slate on their council bills as from 1 July and it is our fervent hope that they are doing their best to service their bills to avoid accumulating arrears. Reports from councils are however disturbing as most of them have since the cancellation of the debts reported a sharp drop in their monthly revenue collection. Most residents are reported to have stopped paying their bills the moment Government directed councils to write off debts.

We want at this juncture to urge residents to reciprocate the good gestures by councils  by paying their monthly bills so that councils can continue providing the essential services. What residents should appreciate is that the bulk of the councils’ revenue is from residents who pay for rates and service charges. We also want to implore TelOne subscribers to also start paying the balance they still owe the company after the cancellation of more than $200 from each account.

It is important for consumers of any service to develop the culture of servicing bills to avoid accumulating arrears. It is a fact that most families are finding it difficult to make ends meet hence most of them have stopped servicing their bills which is a very unfortunate development. Now that the service providers have sacrificed by writing off debts, we should also do the same by striving to pay the little we have towards servicing our debts.

The service providers can only continue to provide the services if consumers pay for the services. Most workers are earning way below the Poverty Datum Line which is estimated to be more than $500 but that should not be an excuse for not servicing debts.