On Repeat: Why The Government Releasing An ECG App Could Be Problematic

By Joseph-Albert Kuuire 2 Min Read

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia made an announcement on Tuesday that the Government would be releasing an ECG app which would enable customers to buy prepaid credit for their electricity meter.

He stated that the app would also enable customers to buy electricity credit for other customers.

But there’s a little problem: An ECG app already exists. So the question, will the new app replace the old app? Is this is going to be an updated version of the current app

Current ECG app

Another question which bears answering: How will the new app work with the current prepaid meters? At the moment, most prepaid meters use an NFC card to top up credit on their meters. Customers usually buy their credit from vending spots.

Will customers have to change their meters to newer versions in order to use the app?

Shouldn’t ECG Be Leading The Charge To Release An App?

The recent news also asks the question is in why the central government is releasing an app. The Elecricity Company of Ghana itself should be taking the lead on this. I

Also, there is the issue of the former owners, PDS, and the state of their app which was being used by customers to pay for their post paid meter.

Current PDS app in the Google Playstore

Questions Still Unanswered

It’s still early but we have many questions about the new ECG app:

  • Was the app developed locally?
  • How will it work?
  • Does it only work with meters with SIM cards?
  • Or can it work with smartphones with NFC?

The app will reportedly be available on February 18. Till then, we can only speculate what the app is capable of.

TAGGED:
Joseph-Albert Kuuire is the creator, editor, and journalist at Tech Labari. Email: joseph@techlabari.com Twitter: @jakuuire
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