[ 2016-01-27 ]

Govt Directs ECG To Refund Excess Charges In 14 Days
The government has given the Electricity Company
of Ghana (ECG) 14 days to refund all excess
charges to its customers.

Already, the ECG says it has refunded over GH¢3
million resulting from the billing defect but the
government wants the process to be expedited in
order to restore sanity in the system.

At a meeting at the Flagstaff House yesterday to
address the concerns of labour unions over recent
adjustments in utility tariffs and petroleum
prices, the Minister of

Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna
Idrissu, noted with concern that some of the
charges that astronomically shot up electricity
bills were not attributable to the adjustments
announced by the Public Utilities and Regulatory
Commission (PURC).
“The ECG is, accordingly, directed to take steps
to end, within 14 days, the refund process,” he
said.

The Chief Executive of the ECG, Mr Robert Dwamena,
who was at the meeting, said everything was being
done to make full refunds.

He said any refund made was verifiable and so
customers should have nothing to fear.

PURC’s earlier directive

Last Monday, the PURC gave the ECG and the Ghana
Water Company Limited (GWCL) up to February 5 to
refund excess bills to customers and threatened to
impose sanctions on the two utility providers if
they failed to heed to the directive.

In a statement, the commission warned that failure
by the utility providers to comply with the order
by February 5 would result in a surcharge of five
per cent of the excess amount overbilled to every
affected customer, in addition to the refund.

Far-reaching decisions

Although yesterday’s meeting could not arrive at
a final resolution on the workers’ demands, the
parties, nevertheless, took what the minister
described as far-reaching decisions.

For instance, the Employment Minister said, the
committee accepted the government’s principle to
cushion industry following the adjustments.

Consequently, the Association of Ghana Industries
(AGI) was asked to submit a comprehensive proposal
to the President and the Minister of Finance
detailing the prioritisation of key areas for
immediate support.

Besides, he said, organised labour tabled some
adjustments to its previous positions, which was
indicative of the spirit behind the negotiations.

He gave an assurance that the decision reached to
cushion lifeline consumers and the vulnerable over
utility tariff adjustments would be communicated
to the public.

The committee would continue its meeting today in
a bid to bring a final resolution to the
discussions

Source - Graphic

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