Gestão econômica em serviços: procedimento de cobrança para recuperação de receita em núcleos de baixa renda

Abstract

Water is essential for life and its preservation is strategic to any country. A worrying factor for the sanitation sector is the water losses that may be real or apparent. Among the apparent losses are the related to billing, collection and default, which, if not properly managed, can lead to organizational issues such as a decrease in investments due to the lack of financial resources. It is also considered that the control of billing, revenue evasion and default are crucial for the organization s economic and financial stability. In this context, the objective of this work is to demonstrate, through a quasi-experiment in three low income communities, that the change of the conventional procedures for revenue recovery is essential to achieve better results in terms of financial recovery and reintegration of low income clients into the company customer base, especially in low income areas where the financial situation of customers preclude the maintenance of timely payments. Based on the literature, it was proposed a novel procedure for the recovery of overdue debts, the recovery/maintenance of customer base and the company revenue increase with focus on low income population. Following statistical analyses it was possible to conclude that the results concerning the decrease in the stock of debts and defaults of the chosen communities improved significantly after the implementation of the new procedure. Hence, the central objective of this study was achieved. Furthermore, this work contributed positively to the economic management of the company studied, as it actually generated economic benefits to the organization and simultaneously assisted the social reintegration of defaulting customers.