The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) spent GH¢710,965 to replace damaged meters, poles and transformers in Greater Accra during the first half of the year.

The replacements followed complaints from customers, interventions by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and ECG’s commitment to improving service delivery.

The Greater Regional Manager, PURC, Madam Gifty Bruce-Nelson, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during the Mid-Year Performance Review of the activities of the utilities.

She said 986 complaints were lodged during the first and second quarters of the year, out of which 972, representing about 99 per cent, were resolved.

Madam Bruce-Nelson said 787 complaints were made against ECG, 169 against the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), while 30 were made by ECG against customers.

She attributed the high rate of resolution to the mutual understanding among the parties involved.

Madam Bruce-Nelson said, in protecting the interests of consumers and utility service providers, some credit adjustments were made in favour of consumers, with ECG making adjustments of GH¢1,921.18 and GH¢103,352.32 in the first and second quarters respectively.

“So the total relief given to consumers was GH¢105,273.50. This adjustment followed investigations into disputed bills and overbilling complaints across ECG and GWL,” she said.

Madam Bruce-Nelson said complaints against ECG mainly concerned quality of service and billing, while those against GWCL related to burst pipes and no flow of water.

She said the complaints were received during field trips, through the toll-free line, phone-ins and electronic platforms, including the PURC website and WhatsApp line.

“The complaints are mostly on our WhatsApp line because the Assembly Members are on the platform and customers give them the complaints and they forward the issues onto the platform. We had 446 complaints from WhatsApp,” she said.

Madam Bruce-Nelson said the Regional Office also reviewed key performance indicators for ECG and GWCL, particularly the five-day period given to the utilities to resolve complaints brought before them.

She said the utilities had improved their promptness in responding to complaints in the region, including the Accra West, Accra East and Tema areas under the Greater Accra jurisdiction.

“We also did some utility monitoring to some ECG District Offices in Nsawam, Amasaman, Bortianor, Achimota and Kaneshie to ascertain for ourselves how the working environment and customer care impacted services,” she said.