The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has justified a directive to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for the suspension of the new billing software, rejecting a threat by workers of the power distributor.

PURC Head of Communications, Nana Yaa Jantuah, says a seven-day ultimatum on Monday by Unionised Workers of ECG for the Commission to withdraw the directive would not hold water.

Speaking on behalf of the Unionised ECG Workers, General Secretary of the Public Utility Workers Union, Ato Bondzie Quaye, said the workers will embark on a massive strike in seven days if the directive stands.

However, the PURC says the stance of the Unionised ECG Workers is hard to grapple.

Nana Yaa Jantuah

“PURC is an independent regulator. The law states categorically that we are independent of the influence of any person or any organisation. We do our work independently,” said Nana Yaa.

She maintains the PURC directive to the ECG is in line with the Commission's core mandate to protect the interest of the consumer.

The PURC in May instructed the power distributor to suspend its post-paid billing software, citing astronomical charges as the reason.

Some pre-paid customers lodged complaints with the PURC revealing that they now pay between two to three times as much as they paid for the same quantity of power consumed in previous months.

“The directive [for suspension of the billing software] is an evidence of what we have seen on paper,” the PURC spokesperson told Top Story on Joy FM Monday, adding, “complaints rose from 18 percent to over 60 percent” since the new billing system was introduced a year ago.

She said some complaints to PURC, backed by evidence, show that some customers were paying astronomical bills as a result of a billing system that lumps electricity cost for many months together.

She indicated that the electricity company is billing pre-paid customers over irregular periods from 18 days - 43days which are in contravention of the 28-day billing cycle.

Nana Yaa Jantuah told Top Story host, Evans Mensah, that all the PURC seeks to achieve with the directive to the ECG is to ensure that the new billing software is properly audited.

She said to the best of her knowledge, the ECG has taken steps towards auditing the new billing system, suggesting that the ECG Unionised Workers’ threat to strike if the PURC does not withdraw the directive may well be a rush action.

Should the agitating ECG workers contact the PURC for clarification of the directive, Nana Yaa Jantuah says the Commission will meet with them although she is not inviting them via the media.