PURC commends Eastern Regional leg of PDS and GWCL for good collaboration
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has commended the Power Distribution Service (PDS) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in the Eastern Region for their collaboration with the PURC, leading to the resolving of complaints of customers swiftly.
The Director, Regional Operations of the PURC, Alhaji Jabaru Abukari, who commended the two institutions at a meeting with management of the service providers in Koforidua, noted that, such collaborations enhanced the work output to the satisfaction of customers.
Between January and June, 2019, the PURC received a total of 818 complaints, including overbilling, non-billing and wrongful disconnections among others against PDS, out of which 764, representing 93.40 % had been resolved by PDS, while 181 cases, representing 99.45%, out of 182 complaints received by PURC against GWCL, had also been resolved.
Alhaji Jabaru, however, urged them to strengthen their monitoring mechanism to prevent illegal connections as well as follow due processes in revenue collection, by giving defaulters payment plans, to prevent customers from accumulating bills and creating problems to the service providers.
On the new tariffs, the Director of Operations noted that, there would be massive response and reactions from the consumers and urged them to take time and give suitable explanations to the obvious queries from the public.
He also tasked the management of the companies to be proactive in developing modern ways of collecting bills as well as to reduce commercial losses, to boost the activities of the companies.
The Eastern Regional Director of the PURC, Mr. Jude Aduamoah-Addo also expressed appreciation to the utility companies for their swift response to the complaints forwarded to them and urged them to also expand their channels of communication with their customers.
He also advised them to intensify their educational activities to sensitise customers on the need to pay their bills promptly and the effects of water pollution, in order to build a healthy relationship with the consumers.
Michael Baah, Eastern Regional Manager of PDS, thanked the PURC for the role it plays in regulating activities of the PDS in the region, adding that, the PDS needed their assistance to work effectively by serving their customers well.
Mr. Dwamena Boateng, Regional manager of GWCL, mentioned power outages and lack of distribution lines as some of the challenges facing their work and thanked the PURC for their support.
Source: GNA