Paraguay’s National Electricity Administration (ANDE) will begin sending the details of 10,000 delinquent customers to Equifax, formerly Informconf, on Monday, July 13. The measure affects users with six or more overdue bills or debts of at least G. 1,500,000.
ANDE commercial manager Hugo Rolón confirmed the expanded reporting of customers to the credit bureau. Until now, about 1,200 customers facing debt-related legal proceedings had been reported. To be removed from the list, those affected must pay their overdue bills or contact ANDE to arrange an installment plan. Rolón said the Ñande Ahorro plan allows payment in up to 60 installments, with no interest or late fees and the first payment due after 30 days.
Those affected will receive a text message if the cadastral number matches the customer. Rolón said the 10,000 are active customers, including industries, businesses, and individuals; in many cases, service had been disconnected and customers reconnected it themselves. The delinquent customers are spread across all 17 departments of Paraguay.
Meanwhile, the Ñande Ahorro campaign will run through July 31. According to official ANDE figures cited by ABC, more than 40,000 customers have regularized their accounts through the campaign, recovering about US$50 million in debt.
Reporting customers to Equifax will run alongside the utility’s procedures for disconnections over unpaid bills. ABC reports that disconnection orders for residential and industrial customers are generated when the second bill falls overdue, as the third is issued. The same report says ANDE prioritizes disconnections for customers with the largest amounts owed and the most months in arrears.
To avoid disconnection and inclusion on the delinquent list, the company says 70% of payments are made through digital channels, banks, and authorized payment processors, with more than 10,000 external payment points. In-person service is available Monday through Friday at offices in the capital and across the country.