The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has intensified its mass replacement of non-smart, faulty, and obsolete meters with MMS Complaint Smart Pre-payment meters to instill high performance in their operations.
The exercise is designed to improve customer satisfaction and convenience and also to provide a platform to customers to purchase credit online, using their mobile phones wherever they find themselves.
The Marketing Officer at the Accra West Regional Office of the ECG, Ms Elizabeth Appiah, disclosed this at a public education and sensitisation forum for residents of Korle Electoral Area in the Ablekuma South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region on Thursday.
The forum formed part of a series arranged by the ECG in collaboration with the Assemblyman for the area, Richard Nii Aryeetey Tagoe, to educate, sensitise and address the concerns of the residents with regards to electricity problems and challenges in the area.
Ms Appiah urged residents to grant access to ECG technicians to their premises, provided they showed their identification for the replacement exercise.
She explained that in the course of the exercise, inferior cables and other accessories that were not up to standard would be replaced with new ones, adding that the measure was in conformity with the PURC Customer Service LI 2413 regulations which authorised the permission to ECG officials to enter customer’s homes for such assignments.
With the new Smart Pre-payment meters, customers are required to use electricity wisely, use mobile phones to top-up credit in the comfort of their homes or offices, no disconnection for non-payment of monthly bills, no levy for ECG transactions, while the mobile Apps provide platform for reporting and resolving issues, among other benefits.
On fraudulent practices, Ms Jessica Tetteh, Client Management Executive at the Korle-Bu ECG office, cautioned customers not to engage in any business or entertain middlemen in their transactions to avoid being duped by faceless ECG staff.
She explained that before a customer acquired a meter from ECG, the company would demand properly wiring of premises, while the Energy Commission would carry out test and issue certificates specifying that the wiring process had passed through the standard test.
She advised individuals in need of meters to direct their concerns or channel their procedures directly to the customer care department of the company for redress to avoid being duped by fraudsters.
During an open forum, some residents complained about faulty pads used in loading and checking credit purchased through mobile phones.
Others also complained about the high amount being charged for the acquisition of meters, especially the single-phased ones, which attracted more than GH¢1,200 whilst the double-phase was over GH¢2,000.
On his part, the Assemblyman for the Korle-Bu Electoral Area, Mr Richard Nii Aryeetey Tagoe, hinted on plans to engage a similar forum with officials from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to educate the residents on the dos and don’ts of domestic fires as well as precautionary measures on the use of gas cylinders, ineffective electrical plugs and exposed wires.
BY CHARLES NEEQUAYE
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