Social impact: Customer and supply chain responsibility

CUSTOMERS

Blue Label serves an integral function in delivering monthly free basic electricity and water tokens to low-income households via retail, banking and direct-to-consumer channels. We alleviate the logistical and financial impact on these consumers obtaining essential products through our vast distribution network in urban and rural areas. Blue Label provides access to over 800 000 households that qualify for free basic electricity and water tokens. Our platform also services almost 7 million prepaid electricity, water and liquid petroleum gas meters across South Africa.

Ensuring exceptional service is a top priority for Blue Label. Quality and accuracy checks on our products provide peace of mind to both customers and consumers.

Ensuring uptime: a commitment to customer experience

Blue Label understands the importance of uptime. Downtime disrupts our customers' operations and can significantly impact their businesses. We are committed to continuous improvement in this area.

Uptime statistics and improvement

Our prepaid aggregators or municipalities, along with formal distribution channels, require Blue Label to undergo regular compliance and integration reviews. We target 98%+ availability and uptime, as measured monthly. In the event of a major outage, Blue Label’s Time to Resolution SLA mandates the restoration of services within a maximum of six hours. Blue Label has made considerable investments into in redundancy and high availability. Preventing or mitigating outages is achieved via system, application, infrastructure and (multi) data centre redundancy architecture that prevents or mitigates any extended outages.

Over the past three years, Blue Label has made significant strides in improving its uptime performance. Our annual uptime percentage has improved.

		2024		2023	2022
Annual uptime percentage		99.62%		99.57%	99.60%

We also saw a 43% decrease in outage duration in the second half of 2024, compared to the first half of the year. In addition, the ratio of complete outages to partial outages decreased by 18.57% compared to the first half of 2024.

These improvements are a testament to our ongoing commitment to investing in infrastructure, implementing robust redundancy measures, and fostering a culture of proactive maintenance.

Continuous improvement

Blue Label remains focused on continuous improvement in uptime. We continue to push the boundaries through:

• technology investment: upgrading our technology infrastructure continuously to enhance reliability and scalability;
• process optimisation: regularly reviewing and refining our processes to identify and address potential bottlenecks that could lead to downtime;
• proactive maintenance: prioritising preventative maintenance practices to minimise the risk of unexpected outages; and
• a data-driven approach: leveraging data analytics to identify trends and proactively address potential issues before these escalate.

By prioritising uptime and embracing a continuous improvement culture, we ensure a reliable and consistent experience for our valued customers.

Understanding customer concerns: our complaint channels

Blue Label is committed to resolving customer concerns effectively and efficiently. We offer multiple channels for customers to voice their grievances and provide feedback, including:

• Telephone; and
• Multimedia:
  • Email;
  • WhatsApp; and
  • SMS.

Data analysis

We analyse data from these channels for trends that might indicate issues that need to be resolved.

	Type of queries
Product queries 68.3%	Account queries 22.1%	Technical queries 9.6%
	Other metrics
Number of queries	559 323 total queries and service requests
	323 714 telephone calls	235 609 multimedia interactions
Source of queries	59% from our merchants/customers	41% from end consumers of the products
	Resolution timeframes
Product queries 1.7 days	Account queries 0.6 days	Technical queries 1.9 days

Resolution process

All queries are logged and assigned to dedicated customer support agents for prompt resolution. We strive to provide clear communication and timely updates throughout the resolution process. On average, 65% of queries could be resolved during the first interaction (on the call or through immediate action).

By understanding customer concerns and utilising comprehensive channels, we can address issues promptly, improve service delivery and build stronger customer relationships.

Innovation

In a challenging economic and competitive environment, innovation is an essential ingredient for sustaining growth.

Our deep understanding of what our customers want and need informs both our platform functionality and our product and service offerings. Blue Label seeks out strategic partnerships and potential acquisitions for new product and platform capability, investing continually in upgraded technology to stay ahead of the game.

Blue Label also constantly explores new ways to improve. We enhance our proprietary platforms by continually refining our processes, software and hardware while simultaneously investing in the required skills and expertise. By gaining a better understanding of our customer needs through targeted analytical processes, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Blue Label can utilise received data to design better products and services. This allows us to craft the best product solutions for specific customers based on refined algorithms.

MEASURING AND IMPACTING OUR ETHICAL SUPPLY CHAIN: A HUMAN-CENTRIC APPROACH

At Blue Label, we recognise the importance of a responsible and ethical supply chain that prioritises human rights. Beyond ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness, we actively measure and work to minimise any potential negative social impacts within our operations and supplier network.

Monitoring human rights

Blue Label leverages various channels to monitor and address human rights concerns within its supply chain:

• Customer satisfaction complaint lines: Customer complaints can highlight potential labour or ethical issues within our network. We analyse these complaints for any human rights concerns.
• Social media interaction: Social media platforms can be a valuable source of information regarding ethical practices within our industry or by specific suppliers. We actively monitor social media for any potential red flags.

We have not uncovered suppliers that adopted child labour, forced or compulsory labour practices, or that caused actual and potential negative social impacts.

Proactive measures

In addition to monitoring, we take proactive steps to minimise human rights risks within our supply chain through:

• Supplier Code of Conduct: Blue Label has established a clear Supplier Code of Conduct that outlines our expectations regarding labour practices, working conditions, and human rights. It will be fully implemented in 2025.
• Supply chain questionnaires: We assess material suppliers' risks of child labour, forced or compulsory labour, or other significant actual and potential negative social impacts, along with the nature of the measures taken by these suppliers to eliminate these risks.
• Partnerships with labour specialists: We collaborate with relevant labour specialists to gain expertise and stay updated on evolving human rights issues within our industry.

Beyond compliance, Blue Label aims to create a positive impact in our supply chain by:

• Promoting fair labour practices: We encourage fair wages, safe working conditions and respect for workers' rights throughout our supply chain. These are driven through Blue Label's newly implemented diversity and inclusion policy.
• Empowering local communities through sustainable partnerships: We prioritise working with suppliers who contribute to the economic and social development of local communities. As an example, we favour suppliers with high B-BBEE ratings.

Looking ahead

To ensure responsible sourcing and ethical practices throughout our supply chain, we will actively monitor human rights risks and measure the impact of our efforts going forward. This will involve tracking key metrics across three areas:

1.	Monitoring
	Customer complaints: We will monitor complaints received via customer service channels and social media, specifically those alleging human rights violations within our supply chain. Social media mentions: We will track mentions of our Company or suppliers regarding potential breaches.
2.	Proactive measures
	Supplier Code of Conduct: tracking the percentage of suppliers formally agreeing to our code, which outlines Blue Label's commitment to ethical practices. NGO partnerships: monitoring collaborations with NGOs to gain expertise and resources for continuous improvement.
3.	Impact assessment
	Employee surveys: conduct annual surveys to gauge employee perception of our commitment to human rights within the supply chain. Supplier worker surveys (if feasible): partner with suppliers to conduct anonymous worker surveys to understand their working conditions and satisfaction. Independent third-party audits: explore partnering with independent auditing entities for periodic assessments of Blue Label's human rights performance.

By establishing baseline data for these metrics, Blue Label will track its progress and adapt its approach over time. Combining quantitative data with qualitative insights from interviews and focus groups will provide a comprehensive picture of human rights within our supply chain. This focus on monitoring, proactive measures and impact assessment will allow us to build a more ethical and sustainable supply chain.