KUWAIT CITY, Jan 26: The problem of the Ministry of Electricity and Water in collecting payments from consumers will end soon through the establishment of prepaid counters, reports Al-Anba daily quoting Assistant Undersecretary for Consumers Affairs Abdullah Al-Hajiri.

Al-Hajiri said bidding on the project will start within four months, indicating the ministry is keen on implementing the new payment system as soon as possible. He explained the prepaid counters will allow the consumers to pay prior to the usage of services through the transmission of consumption amount to the machines of the ministry. He added this will enable the ministry to collect the dues even before the consumers use any of its facilities.  

In a related development, Al-Hajiri revealed the ministry has collected KD 149 million out of KD 303 million unpaid bills since the start of its campaign in April. He added the ministry will continue the campaign, which includes disconnection of power supply in case the consumers fail to pay their accumulated debts within the specified period.