ECG To Face Sanctions Over Prepaid Meter Crisis

The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) has threatened to sanction the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) if it does not resolve issues with its prepaid meters.

Executive Secretary of PURC, Maame Dufie Ofori said the nation’s power distributor has 24 hours to bring the situation under control.

She told Araba Koomson on Joy FM’s Midday News Thursday the Commission will investigate the matter in order to understand the nature of the problem ECG is facing.

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But the Commission will slap the “appropriate penalty” on the company if it is found culpable after the investigation, Ms Ofori said.

Residents of Dansoman, Korle Bu, Kaneshie and Achimota in Accra have had issues purchasing prepaid credit since last Sunday.

Long queues have been forming at ECG offices since Monday with reported cases of customers collapsing after spending hours in the sweltering heat trying to purchase power.

ECG officials say the problem was caused by some technical challenges their system is facing.

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They have assured customers of a swift resolution of the challenges.

But the PURC has given ECG up to Friday to fix the problems or face sanctions.

“As the regulator, it is not a matter of just accepting what the ECG stated as the reason. We have the mandate to investigate [and] we’ve started working on it,” Ms Ofori said.