Paying retrospective charges is to protect the system from abuse - ECG

Some Electricity Consumers have expressed disquiet regarding how fast the units on their house meters run-out since the announcement of new tariffs increment, which came into effect on the 1st of October.

They claim purchases of GHc10 and GHc20 units no longer reflect on their meters, but the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has been offering some explanations.

ECG says the current challenges faced by consumers which have to do with their prepaid metering system was due to the fact that consumers were paying retrospective charges in accordance to the new tariffs.

In justifying the reasons for which the ECG would want consumers to pay retrospective charges, Mr. Adjei Larbi, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the state owned company disclosed that, such a decision came about in the bid to prevent “rich people” from buying a lot of credits before the deadline to take undue advantage of the system.

“….that is how it is when it comes to tariffs. One cannot decide to use his credit to its fullest after buying it. That is what the law says; and we are only following the law and not what we think”.

“…if the law had not permitted that, rich people would buy credit that could last them a whole year onto their meters,” he expounded.

Mr. Adjei Larbi was reacting to concerns raised by users of prepaid meters on Me Man Nti, a flagship political talk-show program on NEAT FM.