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| President Mahama during meeting |
The meeting which is expected to come off,
Thursday, at the Flagstaff House will bring together key players in the energy
sector to discuss how best they could put measures in place to address the
anomaly.
Among the stakeholders expected to be part of
the meeting are the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), ECG, Energy Commission, and the Ministry of Power.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committeeon Mines and Energy, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho who dropped the hint when interacting
with Accra-based Okay FM said President Mahama who is disturbed about the
numerous complaints will demand answers from officials of the institutions
mentioned above about how they are addressing the issue.
On Tuesday, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) issued a directive ordering the ECG to suspend the
implementation of the new billing software following massive outcry on the move.
There were numerous complaints from residential
and business customers of the ECG about suspected anomalies in their bills following
the last adjustment in utility tariffs by the PURC.
Government in the wake of the anomalies in the
new billing software and the incessant cry by customers on the introduction of
the new system instructed the PURC to investigate the numerous complaints to
establish its credibility or otherwise.
The users of electricity complained that the
anomalies are affecting their income and operating costs, the reason they are
calling on government to intervene.
The PURC following the billing problems has barred
the ECG from going ahead with the implementation of the new software.
The Director of Public Affairs and External
Relations of the PURC said all these anomalies have come about as a result of
the implementation of the billing software.
“For instance throughout our investigation; it
came to light that even migrating customer data from the old system to the new
system was a problem. We couldn’t get the accurate data that was needed for the
billing. Some of the bills that we interrogated, the billing cycle was 43 days
instead of 28 days. The billing cycle according to law is 28 days-within the 28
days the customer should pay the bill within 14 days after the 28 days. They
were billing the customers 43 days. If you’re billing me within a 43 day cycle,
what then will happen is you move me to a higher tariff band -That means I’m
going to pay a higher tariff than somebody who uses fewer units. So all these
anomalies have come about as a result of the implementation of the new billing
system,” Nana Yaa Jantuah explained in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.
On the same day, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt.Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, also directed the Mines and Energy Committee step up
efforts in investigating the matter and submit their report to the plenary for
consideration and subsequent adoption.
The directive follows complaints by Members of
the House over the challenges consumers are going through as a result of the
errors associated with the billing of their pre-paid meters.
Majority Chief Whip, Hon. Muhammed Mubarak Muntaka who raised the issue told the Speaker that the situation is so alarming
that in some cases the cost of consumption has almost doubled, thereby,
imposing severe hardship on the ordinary Ghanaian.
According to him, although some individuals who
reported the anomaly to the ECG have been attended to and the errors in their
billing corrected, the over billing still persists among majority of Ghanaians.
“The overall effect of this is that the effort
of President John Dramani Mahama to permanently solve the long-standing power
crisis is severely being undermined and the crisis in the supply of electricity
is being deepened”, he noted in an urgent stated delivered on the floor of the
House, Tuesday.
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