e-Media:
Eng Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Mowkley, CEO of the National Water Company (NWC), said that the company managed to successfully complete projects feeding into the objectives of digitalization initiatives in line with the Saudi Vison 2030. The company launched an electronic platform for water services accessible nationwide. Meanwhile, it cancelled 15 call centers across the Kingdom and replaced them with a unified call center (90001744) working 24/7 for all regions.

This came as part of keeping up with the electronic transformation processes of water services, the development of service infrastructure and utilization of the best operational practices, in addition to enhancing the standard of the company's services.

The CEO called upon all customers, including citizens and residents, to benefit from all NWC services through the company's electronic branch, adding that the seven billing systems have been integrated across the Kingdom into one system only.

"We worked towards developing a unified e-Platform for requesting water services in Saudi Arabia, which we achieved through (e.nwc.com.sa)", he stated. "This was with the aim of upgrading our customer services to live up to their aspirations. Thus, we launched our awareness campaign on e-Services and smart meter consumption readings, while focusing on electronic services requesting and information update to enable customers to electronically manage their accounts, view bills, know their monthly consumption and other services."

To achieve the targets and initiatives of digital transformation under Vision 2030, the company expanded its operations in the area of replacing old meters with smart meters and connecting the same with the remote-readings system that is fitted with many features promoting consumption management. Among such features is the warning that is sent to customers on a weekly basis to notify them of their high consumption. The first phase of this feature was launched in 2019 Q4. The company targets to deploy this service to all customers by mid-2020.

More than 1.9 million smart meters that send readings to the billing system without human intervention have been installed nationwide. The customers are responsible for any in-property activities; they should reduce consumption by modifying their use behaviors, repair leaks and install water conservation tools.

The e-Branch offers a wide array of services. Customers can remotely request a new connection for their property, property units division and owner modification, in addition to viewing all bills with their details, submitting and following up on complaints and reports, and benefiting from the interactive tariff calculator.

All customers across the Kingdom are invited to update their information, which is key to reducing consumption as well as contributing to optimal service provision and monitoring properties' accounts and bills to avoid accumulation. Now, there is no need to visit any of the Water Directorate branches, all services are conveniently accessible via the e-Branch. Finally, having unified its billing system, the company now has additional unified methods of contact including its Call Center (920001744) and Twitter account (@NWCcare) through which customers can follow up on their complaints and objections and find answers for their enquiries.