Eneo declares having caught 487 offenders maintaining a fraudulent supply network of at least 100 homes in 2022.
Prepaid meters introduced by the electricity production and distribution company in Cameroon (Eneo) into the consumption billing system are the cause of numerous frauds.
According to the information contained in the weekly Cameroon Business Today of Wednesday September 13, 2023, at the end of June 2023, the share of prepaid in the number of meters placed in households increased to 32%, compared to 28% at the end of 2022 .
According to figures provided by Eneo, in the first half of 2023, 62% of cases of fraud detected in the city of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, are on prepaid meters compared to 38% on traditional post-paid meters.
Still according to the same source, Eneo declares having got its hands on 487 delinquents maintaining a fraudulent power network of at least 100 homes in 2022. 242 fake electricians were apprehended, much more than the 42 imprisoned in 2021 and at the end June 2023, 138 fake electricians were arrested. According to Eneo, 1,500 fake electricians continue to operate in the neighborhoods. In 2022, 15 Eneo employees and 30 subcontractors were fired for their involvement in acts of electrical fraud.
The prepaid meter has the advantage of offering the customer the possibility of controlling their consumption, putting an end to what the company considers to be the main bones of contention with customers, namely disputed billing and outages. of electricity for unpaid bills, while the bill, in several cases, has often not been paid.
