New Electricity Bills to Start with Second Purchase in April – ECG

By Justice Dzido On Apr 4, 2018

It is emerging that the much anticipated reduction in electricity tariffs may take a bit longer than expected.

This is because the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has explained that the reduction will only reflect on the bills of consumers when they make their second purchase of credit for electricity for April.

The latest also follows the shift of the implementation date of the tariff reduction from March 15, 2018 to April 1, 2018.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on March 5, 2018, announced a reduction in electricity tariffs of between 17.5 and 30 percent for residential and commercial consumers to ease the burden of the high cost of electricity in the country.

The power distributor had earlier explained that the implementation date of 1^st April was due to its monthly billing system which could not immediately effect the change after the announcement in March.

Though some of ECG vendors had earlier told Citi Business News that the reduction had not been effected on April 1^st, a vendor at Circle confirmed to Citi Business News the situation has changed as of Tuesday, April 3^rd.

“The subsidies have started reflecting, unlike yesterday when you came here to check. So for today I can confirm that it has started reflecting”.

The Public Relations Officer for the Accra East Region of the ECG, Isaac Nurris Ainooson also explained to Citi Business News that consumers should see the reduction upon their second purchase this month.

“We told customers that when you vend on the 1^st of April , the first vending would aggregate your consumption for the whole of March and would give you the credit refund due you from the 15^th to the 31^st of March”, he stated.

He added, “so those who went to our vending points to deposit money for the first purchase, some of them saw the tariff as in the subsidies and all that and in the second vending, whatever is due you from the 15^th to the 31^st of March will be given to customers”.

But one customer who spoke to Citi Business News at the ECG vending point in Osu said she has been left disappointed after making her first purchase in April only to realize that the tariff reduction has not reflected on her purchase.

“Every month I pay one hundred Ghana cedis but now I pay more than that, I came today to purchase credit hoping to see the tariff reduction on my receipt but unfortunately for me, it’s the same just like the old ones, so I will have to wait until my next purchase”.