The Harare City Council has signed an agreement with Telecel’s Telecash to allow Harare residents to pay their City Council bills using telecash, barely a week after the mobile money transfer service entered into a similar agreement with MultiChoice’s DSTV.
“Harare ratepayers will no longer have to make a trip to the Harare City Council every month to pay their bills. Bill payments can be made using their cellphone, at any time and from anywhere they may be,” said Telecel Zimbabwe mobile financial services director Nkosinathi Ncube.
“We hope this will not only be convenient for customers but also help ease congestion at the Council offices,” he added.
To make a bill payment ratepayers simply dial *888#, menu, and select the ‘pay bill’ option and choose City of Harare among the list of service providers displayed on the screen where they can select City of Harare as the service provider to be paid. The subscriber then enters the account number on the City of Harare bill and the amount to be paid, then enters his or her personal identification number (PIN) and makes the payment. After making payments, a subscriber will receive a unique transaction ID that can be quoted, like a receipt number, in the event of any query.
Telecash has signed up major retail chains TM Supermarkets, OK Bazaars and Bon Marche as agents nationwide. Zimpost is also a telecash agent. There are also a host of other outlets, including many small traders, registered as telecash agents. Subscribers can also use telecash to purchase goods from them.