Prepaid Meters and Metering for Body Corporates
- NO upfront payment for the PrePaid Meters - get started on prepaid
metering today without upfront large costs of meters and installation.
- PrePaid Meter Management - no hassles with meters management we do
everything.
- No more per quota billing - everyone pays for what they use.
Many residential and commercial properties are owned in sections or areas by multiple
owners, each owner owning one or more sections with the dwelling complex or building
structure. In such arrangements there is usually a body corporate that is comprised
of a number of owners. The role of the body corporate is to provide for governance
of the scheme and taking care of various environmental and financial issues surrounding
the operation.
In such environments it is common for the property to be supplied utilities on bulk-basis.
Typically a single meter system is employed to calculate the overall consumption
of all the sections and the common property area of the complex or building structure.
Following this there may or may not be additional sub meters.
In the case where no sub-meters are installed, apportionment of the utility bill
is typically calculated using the "participation quota". This method attempts to
determine fair apportionment by means of calculating ratios, either by number of
persons or squared meter area. As expected, because of differences in peoples utilization
habits, this method is rarely accurate and is fraught with problems and subject
to frequent dispute and complaints from owners within the scheme.
In the case where sub-meters have been installed the situation is better as the
meter for each section can be measured and therefore accurately billed. The sum
of all the meter readings from the sections can then be subtracted from the bulk
meter reading to determine the amount of electricity consumed in the common property
areas. This can then, once again, be apportioned by means of the "participation
quota" method to each sections utility bill.
While the situation where sub-meters are used is an improvement on the case where
there are none, both situations are not perfect as payment for the utilities charged
still needs to be collected once billed.
As is often the case is such scheme, there are people with varying financial means
and circumstances. The result is that revenue collection management for the scheme
is a task that requires constant attention, sending of reminders, calculation of
late payment charges and debt collection. In the interim the body corporate or appointed
management agent is still required to settle the utility billed it received on the
bulk-meter account.
The amount of utility consumed in such situations is generally significant and therefore
carries with significant liabilities. Without the aid of a prepaid metering solution,
the financial situation of the body corporate may fluctuate significantly, resulting
in contraction of the body corporate cashflow. Since utility bills must be settled
in order to avoid discontinuation of supply, body corporate must often divert funds
for service or maintenance in order to balance shortfalls.
Prolonged, this can lead to further problems such as general degradation of the
complex or building with subsequent negative impact on health and safety and general
up-keep or improvement.
Prepaid meters and prepaid metering solution is the ideal solution for utilities
revenues collection management in body corporate environments. Installed as sub-meter
devices at the mains distribution board located within each dwelling area or section,
prepaid meters can be used to meter and govern the utility supply regardless of
whether sub-meters are already installed or not.
Once installed prepaid metering system ensures that all owners or their tenants
are required to prepay for utility before being supplied. The result is an immediate
improvement in the cashflow of the body corporate. Furthermore, installation of
prepaid meters obviates the need for sufficient meter reading services and the cost
associated with the service.
In addition to these benefits, the problem of paying for utility consumption on
common property areas of the scheme is also resolved. This is because such schemes
are typically metered by way of a bulk meter at which the cost the supply is discounted
by the supplier of the utility. In order to cover the cost of utilities consumed
in common property, each of the prepaid meters installed in the section of the scheme
is set to charge for utility at the regular or standard rate for that utility in
the area. This is price is not discounted, as a result the difference between the
revenue collected from the sections is sufficeint to cover the common property.
The overall amount collected from the sections, charged at standard rate, is typically
greater than the amount billed at the bulk-meter. In most cases this results in
a slight profit for the body corporate which can be allocated toward upkeep and
maintenance of items such as light bulbs, switch replacements, etc.
Prepaid meters and prepaid metering solutions usually solve many problems for body
corporates including cashflow, which is always highly importantfor all body corporates.
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