The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has fined the Board members of the Electricity Company of Ghana for thier failure to inform its customers regarding power outages between January and March this year.
In an order statement which was out-doored on 15 April,2024 by PURC indicated that, the Board members of ECG have been charged a fine of GH¢5,868,000 million for failing to notify their customers of power load-shedding.
“For failure to comply with the 3-day statutory notice required under Regulation 39 L.I 2413, the commission in accordance with Regulation 45 of L.I 2413, hereby imposes a regulatory charge of 3,000 penalty units of ECG for each of the 163 breaches, amounting to Five Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS5,686,000.00).
“The Commission has determined that having regard to the nature of ECG’s ownership and business, the imposition of the penalty of Five Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS5,868,000) on ECG would be counter-productive, as payment from ECG’s revenue would have a rebounding adverse effect on quality of service and consumers who pay tariffs to the company,” PURC stated.
According to PURC “In the interest of justice and to protect the interests of consumers, the Commission shall hold the Board Members of ECG who were in office between 1st January to 8th March 2024 liable for the payment of Five Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS5,868,000).
“These Board Members were at all material times responsible for providing strategic direction to ensure the provision of safe, adequate, efficient, reasonable and non-discriminatory service to consumers.”
The Commission further gave a directive that “The Board Members of ECG in office between 1 January to 18 March 2024 shall pay the regulatory charge of Five Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS5,868,000) into a dedicated fuel account under the joint control of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance on or before 30th May,2024. The Commission will validate compliance in tandem with it’s Cash Waterfall validation reports and periodic regulatory monitoring”
