The Managing Director for the Electricity Company of Ghana, Samuel Dubik Mahama, says ECG meters do not belong to customers.

He explained that the notion that the ECG meters are fully paid for at the point of connection is false.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he said ECG meters are paid for over an extended period of time - between four to five years - through deductions from prepaid purchases or electricity bill payments.

He said what customers pay to the ECG staff at the point of connection is for the service connection and not the meter.

“What our customers fail to realize is that the meter doesn’t belong to the customer. Because of how goro boys have found themselves into this system, we hear people make statements like ‘I bought the meter, I bought the meter’ – please, you didn’t buy the meter.

“The meter is part of a service connection; the amount you paid is for the service connection not the meter. ECG recovers the cost of a meter over a period of time, it’s not immediate,” he said.

Mr. Mahama noted that, however, following the selling of some meters to customers by intermediaries at the real market price on the spot, it is about time a discussion is had on whether the full cost of meters be passed on to customers immediately at point of sale or not.

“But you find the situation where the intermediaries who have their connections sell the meter to you at the real market price and people actually pay. That’s another conversation for the regulator, for us to consider whether the full cost should be passed on immediately for a service connection because that’s also going to close the gap quickly and make the company profitable because clearly people have the appetite to pay for the service so what are we doing actually allowing for whatever and they’re not able to close the gap,” he suggested.