KPLC UNRELIABILITY (OKOA UNITS CODE)

Kenya power and lighting company is one of the oldest companies in Kenya and the only one that I know of that has no competition. Keeping that in mind they tend not to offer first class customer services cause after all whether you like it or not you will have to get your electricity provided by them unless you want to go back to analog and use solar power.

Long before the new millennium they had very poor services but to be honest they have tried and improved but their improvement is not good enough! Before when you had not paid your electricity bill on time they would come and disconnect it. Headache came in when you would want it reconnected. You would have to go in person in any of the KPLC offices and ask for them to come to your place; in short file for a reconnection of which this was still being charged and trust me if you were not persistent and only depended on patience it would take even months if not weeks.

The other issue was fluctuating monthly bills. You would be billed Ksh. 700 this month then the next month you even get a bill of ksh3000. It left many wondering what has changed since even their rates were not hiked neither have you got new electricity guzzler in your house.  

They tried and brought in the prepaid meters and we upheld them with much praise claiming that this time we get to be charged for what we use; no hidden charges. After a while reality checks in, BOOM! KPLC at it again, disappointing their esteemed customers since that’s what they do best. These prepaid meters have come with too much negativity rather than the positive that was intended.

To be so honest I do not even know how much they charge per unit because I tried to inquire and I got the math so confusing such that I kept off. Most Kenyans preferred buying in bulk not knowing the consequences. You get a lot of units and use them for more than three months then when they are over you buy of the same amount you bought last time but to your surprise you are asked to add a certain amount to be able to get units.

I later came to understand that they had fixed amounts that you were billed whether you purchase units or not. I thought this KPLC prepaid meter operated like Safaricom? You pay for what you use? How wrong was i! They seem to be so much interested in squeezing the little cash they can from the common mwanainchi. Safaricom makes a lot of profit and to be honest I have never heard of any fixed monthly charge.

KPLC were, are and will continue to be unreliable as far as customer service is concerned. The buying units process is very unreliable and if not careful you can be left stranded. That’s how I came to learn of the okoa units process which kind off left me smiling knowing that I am using free electricity at the moment. Logically it’s not free because I will have to pay for it but at the moment I consider it free since I did not part with cash.

Just dial 811# and there you go free electricity to be precise 10.00 units that you get to use and air your dissatisfaction to them! Not a bad deal I think!!!