THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe has criticised the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) for increasing power tariffs in US dollars.
CCZ Matabeleland consumer protection officer Comfort Muchekeza said there was no justification for the huge tariff increases when the greenback was stable.
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority last week awarded a US$0,02 cents per kilowatt hour tariff increase to ZETDC, a subsidiary of Zesa Holdings.
“Energy costs are the major drivers of goods and services costs. The increase of tariffs is most likely going to trigger price increases,” said Muchekeza.
“We, however, would like to call upon businesses to first consider other options without increasing their prices. This should, however, not compromise on quality of goods and services. Businesses, Zesa included, should also consider that the US dollar which is our (main) currency is a stable currency that enables themto make good profits, so there is no justification to ask for huge mark-ups,” he said.
United Refineries chief executive Busisa Moyo said the cost of doing business would also increase following the power tariff increases.
“Our cost of doing business in manufacturing is now going to be very high. (High) municipal rates and levies across value chains means being competitive in the AFCFTA will be difficult, South Africa and Zambia our competitors are ahead of the curve. Having no power or the diesel option would be far much higher than what is being proposed,” Moyo said.
Zesa Holdings has since warned Zimbabweans to brace for a tight load-shedding regime for the next 30 daysowing to technical faults at the Hwange Power Station.
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