The partially destroyed Electricité du Liban (EDL) building in Beirut. (Credit : João Sousa)
BUS (Butec Utility Services), the private company managing bill collection, maintenance and modernization operations for electricity networks in Lebanon's north, has asked Électricité du Liban (EDL) subscribers to verify the identity of bill collectors.
In a statement relayed by the state news agency (NNA), BUS specifically requested that subscribers ask agents who "show up at their homes or business premises" to show their badge, which should display " a photo and their personal information." The company urged EDL subscribers to call 1576 if they noticed anything suspicious.
Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, a BUS executive who is not authorized to speak to the press said that "management took the decision to issue this reminder after information circulated on the Internet reporting that individuals were posing as collection agents" in certain areas.
"No specific incidents have been traced back to our customer service department, but we felt it appropriate to issue this recall as a precautionary measure," the executive said.
Since 2012, private companies have managed the distribution network of EDL. In addition to BUS and KVA SAL, which manages distribution in Beirut and the Bekaa, the rest of the country is divided between NEU Company (or NEUC, Debbas Group) and Mrad for Trading, Industry and Contracting, which joined the scene in 2018.