In an Observer perspective earlier this month, PhD student Yusuf Serunkuma took umbrage with the robbery-like charges of service providers, particularly electricity supplier Umeme’s Yaka and the multiple telecoms’ voice and data bundles.

His piece is truly an eye-opener. To begin with, there is a reminder that these powerful companies are all foreign-owned; the bulk of what they reap, therefore, is mostly repatriated to home countries. In addition, there are not that many people who are aware that Yaka charges a service fee and VAT.

Serunkuma asserts that we are all captivated in a “collective silliness” in the way we have embraced packages such as, or similar to, Pakalast or the Yaka prepaid metres. If Pakalast and similar bundles are collecting a minimum of Shs 1,000 per day  per subscriber, plus the undeserved Yaka service fee, then, in his opinion,  these utilities companies are making over a trillion shillings a year from just their extra charges.

He is deflated that Ugandans, who continuously bemoan our poor economy, have not paid attention to this; hence, we are “not counting the pennies/coins!” 
Well, I, too, then called Umeme and inquired about the rates.  For domestic use, the charge is Shs 150 for the first 30Khwh and all additional units are at Shs

623. And the service fee is charged only once a month! Umeme is adamant that this service fee is necessary, especially because there is a lot of maintenance works that go on. They are also quick to point out that a regulator sets rates which do not necessarily reflect costs.

Now my friend Serunkuma must understand that there are people who love the call bundles, mobile money platforms and Yaka metres.  And it is not possible that they do not care about the monies.  We have all seen adults that earn more than the average person’s wages complain loudly about withdrawal charges on both MTN and Airtel platforms.

However, the choices can be strange.  Why would someone choose the daily Airtel Pakalast at Shs 1,000 instead of the cheaper monthly Shs 20,000 Kyabise package that includes data and messages?

Is it because they cannot afford to pay Shs 20,000 at once or that they would not like to pay for a service they may not consume on telephone off-days? Perhaps it is the same with Yaka, which seems expensive to some. 

As I enquired about these services, someone told me that he would never pay for Yaka using mobile money because it costs Shs 5,000 and that is what his home needs for two days.  So, there is great awareness.

Sometimes we willingly pay for quality of service.  A few years back, I was lucky to fly first class to London and that was when I appreciated the exorbitant cost of such fares.  It was lavish beyond reason.  I also found out why our MPs and government officials agitate for international trips all the time.

Unfortunately, many providers do not understand that excellent service is premium.  If, for example, many people are complaining about withdrawal fees, perhaps the phone money services are not appreciated.

In fairness, both Umeme and the telecoms have massively improved on their customer service responses and there is less complaint in that area, but we are right to expect a lot more from them.  Their pre-payment tariffs are such that it is we, the clients, who pre-finance all their activities. They are in an ideal position and must appreciate it.

I also have a story to tell on poor service recently. At the beginning of this week, I took my car for a check.  Something was not right with the tyres. I was advised that the car needed just wheel alignment and balancing.

Unfortunately, I had no cash on me but they would not take my personal cheque. Of course this is understandable if one is unknown to you but I was denied service despite having purchased the tyres, brakes and shock absorbers…

Some people I know have opened up a training centre, the Institute of Work Culture and Ethics, offering a transformation baraza and one of them is writing a customer relations management book that will be published in January 2017.  Check them out on www.iworkculture.com.  We should all sign up soon in order to improve our productiveness and delivery at work!

osm@kigothinkers.org

The author is one of the founding Kigo Thinkers.