By URN
Ugandans whose Yaka meters have not been upgraded should not panic as Energy minister, Ruth Nankabirwa says there is still room to have them upgraded.
Nankabirwa, while speaking to journalists in Kampala on Tuesday said Umeme and Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) have made significant progress in upgrading Yaka meters for all Ugandans.
A total of 2.2 million customers from both Umeme and UEDCL have completed the upgrade, representing 95.1 percent of the target. The Minister also noted that Kalangala Infrastructure Services has achieved a 100 percent upgrade.
On January 5th of this year, Nankabirwa informed the country that there would be a mandatory software upgrade for prepaid Yaka meters.
This notification followed a global announcement by the Global Standard Transfer Specification Association, stating that all prepayment meters would be affected by the token identifier rollover, set to occur by November 24th.
This would result in all prepaid meters stopping the acceptance of new tokens unless upgraded by that time. The upgrade was necessary due to the expiration of the current token identifier, which has been in use since 1993.
The Minister also mentioned that some premises have not been upgraded because they are unoccupied, with no one to take care of them. She noted that some property owners are abroad, while others have country homes where no one is available to attend to them.
Additionally, some properties are for sale, or have legal disputes, and some individuals steal electricity, which has slowed the upgrade process.
To assist the remaining customers, Nankabirwa stated that Umeme and UEDCL have deployed technicians to continue searching for homes where meters have not been upgraded.
She also said her ministry has enhanced communication efforts by using media platforms to encourage Ugandans to upgrade their Yaka meters.
For customers using different meters, there are numbers available to check whether their Yaka meters have been upgraded which will be shared on media platforms the minister remarked.
Jona Kiiza, the spokesperson for Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited, said that by the close of the deadline, they had generated key change tokens for all 17,122 UEDCL customers. When customers call for an upgrade, they are able to have their Yaka meters upgraded instantly.
