PURC to probe ECG overbilling

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has said it will begin investigations into the Electricity Company of Ghana’s retrospective billing which came along with new tariffs announced by the regulator in December 2015.

Some electricity consumers complained of being overcharged shortly after the 59.2% increase in electricity took effect on December 14 last year.

The regulator has said it will penalise the ECG if the probe reveals negligence on the part of the electricity provider.

Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3fm, Director of Public Relations and External Affairs of the PURC Nana Yaa Gyantuah said: “The tariff is 59.2% but people were seeing 200%.

“What we are going to do is that we are now going to take those metres ….we are going to have a meeting on those metres …and we are going to take those metres and simulate to find out what is causing this issue of retrospective billing.

“Whether it’s a software thing, whether it’s a billing cycle, ECG said (it was) because they did it in the middle of the month. But Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) didn’t have that problem even though we did it in the middle of the month.

“PNS would have been phased out but there is one or two of them in the system, they didn’t have that problem. I on ‘E Cash Three’ didn’t have that problem. So we are going to find out exactly what it is…and when we find out, we will be rooting for a penalty because this one is a question of diligence, it is a question of making sure that whatever metre you are bringing to the system is going to help the consumer and not to disadvantage the consumer.

Nana Yaa Gyantuah also said the PURC will begin a massive education programme on energy consumption among electricity consumers in the country.

“We should know what our consumption is. We are going to do a massive education on how to read your metre, how to know what you need to consume,” Ms Gyantuah said.