Ghana: PURC Orders ECG To Pay Huge Compensation To Affected Customers

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to compensate all customers who have been affected by the failure of its prepayment system.

According to the Commission, the failure of ECG’s prepayment system constituted a breach of ECG’s statutory obligations specifically sections 11 and 12(1) and (2) of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission PURC Act 1997, (Act 583) and Regulations 41 and 45 of the PURC (Consumer Service) Regulations, 2022 (LI 2413).

In a letter by the Executive Secretary Of PURC, Dr. Ismael Ackah, directed to the Managing Director of ECG, he imposed penalties on ECG for various categories of consumers who were affected by the system failure.

The Commission directed ECG to pay Gh¢15 for all lifeline customers who were affected, Gh¢120 for residential customers, Gh¢240 for non-residential customers, Gh¢480 for commercial customers and Gh¢1,200 for industrial customers.

Apart from compensating the customers, the Commission also directed ECG to extend their working hours to 8 pm in all the affected areas.

In addition, it directed ECG to employ extra staff to augment their staff to attend to affected customers.

Energynewsfrica.com foresees ECG paying huge sums of money as compensation considering the widespread nature of the technical breaches.

Responding to a question posed by energynewsafrica.com at a press conference on Monday, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama said his outfit could not immediately provide information on how much revenue it had lost as a result of the issue.

Many customers of ECG particularly prepaid meter customers could not purchase credit on their card for more than four days, forcing them to sleep in darkness.

The power distribution company, in an update, attributed the situation to a technical failure.

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Source: https://energynewsafrica.com