Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is implementing a US$2.8M automated Customer Information System (CIS) that is expected to boost the accuracy of the cash receipting process.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release the CIS will replace the current system that has been in place for 20 years. It is expected to improve customer service by giving prompt responses to billing requests by providing staff at all eight locations countrywide with up-to-date information. It will also allow new payments to be immediately credited to a customer’s account.

The project is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank under the Unserved Areas Electrification Programme as part of the company’s loss reduction investment programme. The contract was signed between the power company and the Canadian Company Advanced Utility Systems, a subsidiary of Harris Computers of Canada, in March.

In a press release GPL had said that the key objective of the CIS is to ensure that the solutions implemented are flexible enough to respond to the changes in the internal and external environment. It said too the state-of-the-art system will also provide solutions that will allow quality information technology systems to support its business in the future. The project is expected to come on stream in April 2010.