An assessment of South African prepaid electricity experiment, lessons learned, and their policy implications for developing countries

Review of Strategies and Technologies for Demand-Side Management on Isolated Mini-Grids

“…Since the late 1980s, prepaid meters have risen in popularity for use on both mini-grids and utility-scale grids (Ghanadan 2009, Nefale 2004, Ruiters 2009, van Heusden 2009, Tewari and Shah 2003. Prepaid meters offer low-income customers the ability to more closely manage their consumption and make smaller, more regular payments that are often better matched to their cash flow.…”

“…More sophisticated meters combining prepaid meters with either DSM or centralized energy management systems will be described in the next section. 21 It is important to note that prepaid meters were met with substantial resistance when first installed in communities in South Africa, largely because they were seen as being installed in response to the politicized payment boycotts associated with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa (van Heusden 2009, Tewari andShah 2003). Prepaid meters individualized payments so that communities could no longer organize effective boycotts, and had the connotation that customers were not credit-worthy.…”

Pro-poor water service strategies in developing countries: promoting justice in Uganda's urban project

“…The objective is to balance objectives: harmonising access to water, equity (fairness), and sustainability.The use of pre-paid water meters has advantages and disadvantages. According to Tewari and Shah (2003) the advantages include: improved knowledge of water use; proper budgeting; convenience; no disconnection/reconnection cost; no burden of deposits; and empowered water users. However, the negative attitude towards pre-paid meters characterizes more of the literature on pro-poor water infrastructure.…”

The prepaid electric meter: Rights, relationships and reification in Unguja, Tanzania

“…From the perspective of consumers, the prepaid meter offers increased control over consumption, payment and debt. After surveying prepaid customers in SSA, four studies conclude that the meter provides users with budgeting support, reductions in consumption through (self)-rationing, and increased awareness of consumption (Tewari & Shah, 2003;Miyogo et al, 2013;Malama et al, 2014;Mburu & Sathyamoorthi, 2014). Baptista (2015) finds prepaid users in Maputo to be largely satisfied with their control over budgeting and consumption; given the tenuous economics of the urban margin, she credits the prepaid meter with enabling residents to pursue at least some modern comforts.…”

“…The World Bank has approved funding for prepaid installations in several SubSaharan African countries, citing both these aspects as the benefits of their loans (World Bank Group, 2003b, 2003aWorld Bank Group, 2016a, 2016b. Furthermore, utilities faced with electricity theft worry that users can tamper more easily with postpaid meters (Tewari & Shah, 2003;Mwaura, 2012) and so welcome their replacement.…”