The debts of the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas (STEG) with its customers reached at the end of April 2023, nearly TND 3,199 million, against TND 2,937 million at the end of 2022.

These accumulated debts account for around 44% of STEG's turnover, which stands at TND 7,275 million, said STEG Director of Cooperation and Communication Mounir Gharbi in a statement to TAP.

These debts increased by 9% (up by TND 262 million) between the end of December 2022 and the end of April 2023, he added.

The total of these debts is distributed at 56% for private sector customers, i.e. households, small trades and industry, for a value of TND 1,800 million.

He specified in this regard, that household debts had risen from TND 1,325 million to TND 1,417 million, up by TND 92 million and 7% in just four months.

Delays in paying bills

This is a major part of public sector debt. In fact, the public sector (ministries, public companies, administrations, local authorities and municipalities) accounts for about 44% of total debts, equivalent to TND 1,397 million.

The official specified that the outstanding debts of national companies stand at TND 707 million, and those of ministries and affiliated departments at TND 499 million, and TND 192 million for local authorities.

Speed up the recovery process

Mounir Gharbi pointed out that these debts are a heavy financial burden on the financial balance of the company, which is called upon to assume its responsibility for recovering these debts in order to guarantee the continuity of public services and ensure the country's supply of electricity and gas.

The company has an internal strategy aimed at consolidating the recovery rate by focusing on customers and offering them other means to pay their consumption bills.

As regards the solutions adopted by STEG to improve the recovery effort, Gharbi said that each district would assume its responsibility for finding appropriate formulas with its customers to encourage them to settle their debts to the company.

Among the solutions under consideration are speeding up the rate at which electricity is cut off to customers who fail to pay their bills, including businesses and public establishments considered to be protected by public vocation, with due regard to ensuring that public services are provided at the same time.

He concluded by underlining that the Smart Grid project could be the solution to the problem of paying bills and rationalising energy consumption.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse