ECG union, PURC must resolve impasse now!

Since the tariff adjustment by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) last year, there has been a hue and cry over what consumers have described as astronomical increases in their bills.

Some claim that their bills have either tripled following the increase, while those on prepaid meters have given reports of how much they have to spend buying credit over a short period of time.

Initially, the blame was laid squarely at the doorstep of the PURC for daring to announce the increment in the first place.

The situation was especially so coming on the heels of the power crisis that bedevilled the country for more than three years.

That, however, did not overrule the fact that to ensure a reliable supply of power, there was the need for consumers to pay realistic tariffs in order to ensure value for money.

But with the implementation of the new tariffs, the incessant complaints by individuals and industry led to the PURC commissioning an investigation into the allegation of over-billing.

The commission indicated that after a thorough investigation into the complaints of over-billing through its monitoring exercises, it came to the conclusion that there was an anomaly in the initial use of a new billing software by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The billing software, called the Commercial Management System (CMS), was procured for the ECG under the second phase of a project supervised by the Ministry of Power, with funding from the World Bank.

Consequently, the PURC directed the ECG to discontinue the use of the software, but that has not gone down well with members of the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU), who have also given the PURC a seven-day ultimatum to retract its directive to the ECG.

The position of the PUWU is that since the PURC gave that directive, its members have been subjects of public ridicule, intimidation and in some cases attacks.

But the PURC also maintains that the directive to the ECG to suspend the new billing software is contingent on the need for the ECG to give consumers value for money.

Clearly, this standoff between the PUWU and the PURC will not engender industrial harmony.

Without doubt, members of the public have raised legitimate issues that must be addressed to ensure that sanity prevails in the system.

The Daily Graphic believes that whatever challenges there are can be ironed out through dialogue.

That is why we call on the PUWU to engage with the PURC with the aim of finding lasting solutions to the challenges that Ghanaians continue to complain about regarding the apparently abnormal rise in their electricity bills.

We also urge members of the public to desist from making derogatory statements against the staff of the ECG and wait patiently as steps are taken to address the concerns they have raised.

Power is a key driver of our national development process, as we experienced the harm its shortage caused the national economy during the ‘dumsor’ era.

Now that we appear to have stable power supply, nothing should be done to disrupt this essential commodity in the productive process.