More than 700 customers of Te Aponga Uira are at risk of being disconnected from electricity supply if they do not pay their overdue bills to the power provider.

TAU issued its latest statement last month urging these customers to pay their overdue balances or enter into a payment plan and said that there might not be further warning after October23. TAU gave three months’ notice to these customers

Any customer with an overdue balance that is more than 90 days old and does not have an approved and up-to-date payment plan, will be identified for power disconnection.

“Te Aponga Uira (TAU) is committed to provide sustainable and innovative energy solutions to the community. Achieving this goal requires responsible financial planning and management, both from us and our customers. We would like to extend our appreciation to the majority of our customers who pay their bills on time or reach out to us when they are facing difficulties. Meitaki to those responsible customers, TAU stated.

“Since announcing this policy, around 700 customers have taken steps to settle their accounts or arrange a payment plan, which we greatly appreciate. However, there are still approximately 700 customers who have not responded to our attempts to contact them and remain at risk of disconnection.

“Please note, there may not be further notice before disconnection occurs”

TAU introduced an updated policy in July this year for customers with persistent debt or those with bills overdue by more than 90 days who have not made any effort to pay or arrange a payment plan.

The policy includes customers being identified for disconnection due to those unpaid accounts, to ensure fairness to all customers.

Customers with long-term debt are those who haven’t paid their electricity bills for 90 days or haven’t cleared their overdue balance during that time.

TAU urged them to contact TAU’s debtors team on 20054 or visit their office to either pay their bills or agree to an approved payment plan or they will face disconnections if they do not.

An approved payment plan is a signed document between the customer and TAU and if there is no signed agreement then there is no approved payment plan.

Customers with an existing payment plan that is not being honoured will also be identified for disconnection, as this will be classified as not “up to date”.

To avoid disruption of service, customers are encouraged to utilise one of the several available payment methods:

o   Direct deposit into one of TAU’s bank accounts

o   Regular automatic payment arranged through your employer

• Call In person at our Tutakimoa office, Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm

--Release / TM