The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) office in the Western Region has been able to resolve 1,036 out of 1,064 complaints received from January to August 2022, representing 94.8 percent of complaints received.
The Commission explained that 966 of the complaints were lodged against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), 75 against the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and 23 were reported by the two utility companies against consumers.
Also, on the resolved cases presented, the Commission clarified that 958 were on ECG; 72 for GWCL; and seven came from the utility companies against consumers.
The complaints lodged by consumers were on the quality of service, frequent power outages, voltage fluctuations, leakages, irregularity in the flow of water and pipe-bursts, among others.
These complains, according to the PURC, are investigated and then action is taken immediately to ensure peace and good relationships between the clients and utility companies.
On the impact of complaint management, ECG was able to compensate consumers with one washing machine, two television sets and the repair of one flat-screen television.
These were made known during PURC Consumer Service Clininc-2022, organised for clients in Takoradi, Western Region.
It afforded the individuals, assembly members, security agencies as well as organised groups an opportunity to report on issues bothering them in regard to services rendered by the utility companies; and then discussed the way forward as to how their services can be improved.
Cassiel Asiedu, Western Regional Public Relations Officer-PURC, emphasised that the Consumer Service Clinic is meant to create a platform where customers of utilities are given opportunity to present their complaints to both PURC and the utilities companies – with the expected assurance of their complaints being resolved.
“The Commission will ensure that all complaints lodged during the Consumer Service Clinic are addressed to the satisfaction of customers,” Jonathan Akwetey, Western Regional manager of PURC said.
Michael Brefo, Acting General Manager, Regulatory Management of EC, encouraged companies and small and medium enterprises to report to ECG if they have put on hold their businesses or are no longer in production.
“If you do not inform any of our offices, service charges will continue to pile up – and there will be deductions if you resume your business or transfer your company or shop to another place,” he explained, further advising consumers to continue using power wisely to conserve energy.
Stanley Martey, Communications Manager of Ghana Water Company Limited, also advised consumers to report any challenges to district or regional offices for them to be resolved.
“Water is colourless. If you open your tap and you fetch something different, kindly report it to our Water Quality Assurance Department and they will be able to identify where the problem is,” he said.
Again, he said, illegal connection of water should be a thing of the past; and that currently if an individual applies for a digital meter it will be received within 10 working days.
He mentioned challenges faced by the company as climate change, farming along the river-bodies and pollution of the rivers by illegal miners, among others.
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister, urged traditional authorities and individuals to support government in the fight against illegal mining that is destroying our river-bodies.
