The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has commenced processes to compensate its customers in some districts in the Accra West Region who suffered losses in December last year because their built operate and transfer (BOT) pre-paid cards were corrupted.
According to the Managing Director of the power distributor, Mr Samuel Boakye-Appiah, processes were currently underway to identify customers who were actually affected by the technical hitches.
The move is in compliance with a directive by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) to the power distributor to pay compensation amounting to GH¢1.9 million to make up for the losses incurred by the consumers.
Recall
In December last, year some 41,000 power consumers within the Korle Bu,Achimota, and Kaneshie and Dansoman districts of ECG went through two weeks of frustration because their BOT cards were corrupted and needed to be reactivated before they could purchase power.
Apart from the inconveniences caused those customers at the domestic level, some businesses which depended on power to operate were also affected. The PURC directed the ECG to compensate them for the losses they had endured within those days.
The Commission directed that the compensation to the affected customers in the form of one-time electricity credit effective February 2018 ought to be done by March 1, 2018 and evidence submitted to the Commission by ECG on or before March 5, 2018.
Assurance
Speaking to journalists during a health walk organised by the management of ECG last Saturday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the company, Mr Boakye-Appiah said the ECG was committed to carrying out the PURC directive.
“There are about 320,000 customers within the four districts who were affected but it was estimated that 41,000 BOT consumers suffered some losses.
“We have an ongoing process to establish the exact number of customers who were really affected so that we comply with the PURC directive to compensate them.
It is a process so we will follow it diligently and ensure that those who deserve compensations receive it,” he said.
ECG @ 50
Mr Boakye-Appiah described the company’s 50-year journey as largely successful, especially when other companies had folded up in the wake of daunting challenges.
“ECG has been able to supply about 20 million people with electricity and has also kept the wheel of industries running because if there is no electricity many ventures will not exist,” he stated.
Best practice
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the ECG board, Mr Keli Gadzekpo, has said the company will strive to be the leading power distributor in the West African sub-region by adopting best practices.
He said members of the board would continue to provide the right policy direction and support to the management to ensure that targets were met and goals achieved.
Exercise
The health walk began at the project site of the ECG at Kwame Nkrumah Circle at about 6:30 a.m. with the patrons clad in the company’s paraphernalia and dancing to brass band music.
They walked through the principal streets of Accra and finally converged on the company’s head office at the ministries.
After the about one-and-a-half hour walk, the patrons who were mainly staff of the company were taken through aerobic sessions by health instructors from the Ghana Health Service.
