All ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) will be shifted onto prepaid meters from August 1, this year in a move by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to recover huge amounts of unpaid tariffs owed it by the MDAs. Confirming the decision of ECG's management on the issue to the Daily Graphic, Dr. N.K. Smart-Yeboah, director in charge of customer service said the move was part of measures adopted by the company to ensure compliance with its debt recovery policies. The decision to fix the prepaid meters is also in response to a directive issued by the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, in April asking the company to take appropriate measures to curtail the abuse of electricity consumption by MDAs. He gave the assurance that the government would take steps to clear its indebtedness to the company to enable it to function effectively. Currently, the government's outstanding tariff commitment to the ECG, which has piled up over the years, stands at GH¢80 million and is often cited as a major factor in the utility provider's debt recovery crisis and pressure for increased tariffs. In addition to the government's failure to pay, the mounting debt is also blamed on the abuse of electricity by MDAs. The ECG has been reeling under severe financial constraints, which its management cites as the major reason for the company's inability to function effectively. The irony, however, is that the ECG has not been able to collect tariffs running into hundreds of millions of Ghana cedis owed it by MDAs and some residential consumers. Public concern has been rife over the huge indebtedness of the government to the ECG, the settlement of which, many believe, will help ease the financial predicament of the company. A recent increase in electricity tariffs has attracted public outrage, with the working class deeply worried over the impact it will have on its purchasing power, while industry fears it will lead to serious repercussions such as job cuts. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana