The Eastern Regional Office of Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has embarked on “Operation Man Haunt ‘ during its Public Education and SHEP Community Monitoring from the 14th to 18th of August, 2023, to ten(10) selected communities within the Kade and Tafo Districts.
During the exercise ,PURC received 480 complaints from four (4) communities namely Addo- Nkwanta, Abaam, Asoum, and Asamama, on non-delivery of bills.
Two hundred and sixty -seven (267) of the customers were identified as those who had never received bills before from the Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG).
According to the Eastern Regional Manager of PURC ,Jude Aduamoah, the details of the customers have been forwarded to ECG for redress.
Eastern Regional office of PURC has been very effective and efficient in recent years fulfilling its mandate as utility regulatory body.
Based on the Commission’s mandate of receiving , investigating and settling disputes between consumers and utility service providers ,the regional office of PURC received 324 complaints against Ghana Water Company Limited(GWCL) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) during the first quarter of 2023 which 311 representing resolution percentage of 95.98% was achieved.
The 13 outstanding complaints were at various stages of resolution.
Addressing the media few months ago the Eastern Regional Manager of PURC Jude Aduamoah -Addo explained that ,274 of the 324 complaints were against ECG while 50 against GWCL.
175 complaints representing 55% were received from customers via electronic means particularly WhatsApp platforms created across the region.
The complaints were about billing, payment, poor quality of service, metering , disconnection, damaged properties and consumer service.
Customers .
Complaints of disputed bills reported to PURC by three(3) customers against ECG during the period amounted to twenty-seven thousand nine hundred and sixteen Ghana cedis (27,916).
Due to the intervention of the Commission, ECG passed an adjustment of twenty-seven thousand two hundred and sixty- eight Ghana cedis (27,268) leaving outstanding balance of six-hundred and Forty-Eight Ghana cedis (Ghc648) for the customers to pay.
Forty-Eight (48) Senior High Schools in the Eastern Region were also identified to be indebted to Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to a total of One Million two hundred and ninety eight thousand eight hundred and sixty- seven cedis ( Ghc1,298,867 ) unpaid bills.
GWCL per LI 2413 Regulation 9(1A) lodged complaints against the schools at the Eastern Regional Office of Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC).
The intervention of PURC also led to recovery of three hundred and twenty-six thousand,and Ninety three cedis (Ghc326,093) during the period.
PURC has declared 2023 the year of “operational efficiency”aimed at ensuring a balance between quality of service delivery and revenue recovery to help both providers and consumers commit to their social contracts.
Jude Aduamoah-Addo, Eastern regional manager of PURC urged ECG and GWCL to speed up response time to addressing complaints of customers particularly during the weekend.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
