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01.09.2012 General News

ECG Caution Customers

By Daily Guide
Premises of the Kwabenya Electricity Company.Premises of the Kwabenya Electricity Company.
01.09.2012 LISTEN

THE ELECTRICITY Company of Ghana (ECG) has cautioned customers to be wary of self-styled ECG staff who are duping people of various sums of money under the pretext of selling prepaid meters to them.

Dominic Afesi, ECG Kwabenya District Director said the company worked with third party contractors who performed specific duties like replacing prepaid meters with the old meters and issuing new meters. This means, the ECG deals with a lot of contractors who are not workers of the ECG, he explained.

He said due to the work of these third party contractors, when people complain about being asked to pay extra money for standard services, it was difficult to fish out the people involved because they were not workers of the ECG.

The issue of collecting illegal fees from customers had come up following complaints by some customers at the Kwabenya branch about poor service, faulty meters and the corrupt practices of some ECG staff.

Mr. Afesi noted that since most people contact ECG workers on contract, when they are duped the people cannot be traced. Also, reports of faulty card readers for the prepaid meters and electro meters had been communicated to the manufacturers for the necessary measures to be taken to correct them, he said.

 
In an interview with DAILY GUIDE , Jerry Mensah, a customer said he applied for his prepaid meter several weeks ago but it is yet to be installed. He pleaded with the ECG to employ more technicians to help serve customers better.

'The problem of poor service is common at most of the branches of the ECG mainly due to the monopolistic nature of the ECG,' he added and advised government to privatize the company.'

He also suggested that should another electricity company be allowed to operate it would compete with the ECG thereby enabling customers get quicker, more efficient service.

Kwame Afari another customer who tried on several occasions to get the technical team to install his prepaid meter after paying all the charges, said he visited the ECG office a month later as instructed but was greeted with an excuse that the technical teams had busy schedules.

'After living without electricity for three long months, I advised myself and contacted the head of the technical department who made negotiations for me to pay an extra amount before the prepaid meter was fixed,' he complained.

Mr.  Afesi also told the paper there were strict requirements for getting a metre and until they were followed it would be impossible for customers to get their metres.

He said most people build at sites not approved by the Town and Country Planning, therefore when the ECG connects electricity to those areas it creates a lot of joints in the system which becomes a challenge for the company.

  By Eunice Asante
 

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