The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, PURC has ordered the Electricity Company of Ghana ECG, to compensate the 41,000 customers who struggled to purchase prepaid credit for several days, after the servers dedicated to the pre-paid system failed.
The compensation is to come in the form of “one-time electricity credit†in February 2018, and it is expected to cost the ECG GHc 1,927,920.45.
According to the regulatory body, there was a violation on the part of the ECG that led to the inability of customers, especially those in Achimota, Korle-Bu, Dansoman and Kaneshie, to purchase electricity.
A statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the PURC, Mrs Mami Dufie Ofori, on Thursday, 25 January said: “The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has ordered the ECG to pay compensation to the affected prepayment customers in Achimota, Korle-Bu, Dansoman and Kaneshie who were unable to purchase electrify units from December 3- 12, 2017.
“The Commission undertook preliminary investigations into the matter on December 2017 and further directed ECG to submit technical and operation information on the Prepayment System and its failure. ECG was also given an opportunity to answer questions and explain the circumstances of the incident to the Commission.
“Having investigated the matter, reviewed data submitted by the ECG including correspondence, minutes, incident reports, BOT contract and system documentation, the Commission arrived at the conclusion that there was a violation on the part of the ECG.â€
This system failure compelled customers from Korle Bu, Dansoman, Kaneshie and Achimota to mass up at the Head Office of ECG near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, in a bid to have their problems resolved.
A power outage was later established to be the cause of the system failure.
The ECG is expected to provide evidence of the compensation to the PURC by March 1, 2018.
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primenewsghana.com/Ghana News