PURC says the pending complaints are being worked on
The Northern Regional Office of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has disclosed that it received 1,435 complaints about service delivery in the area.
In a statement issued on Monday, January 27, 2025, the office disclosed that by the close of the year 2024, it had resolved 1,213 of the cases.
The PURC explained that the complaints were mostly about service delivery by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) and Ghana Water Company Limited.
Read the full statement below
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act, 1997 (Act 538) that establishes the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), mandates the Commission to receive, investigate, and resolve consumer complaints. This function is very dear to the Northern Regional Office of the Commission. The Northern Regional Office investigates any complaint brought by a customer or a utility service provider before initiating the resolution process.
For the year 2024, the Northern Regional Office of PURC received a total of 1,435 complaints and was able to resolve 1,213 complaints before the year ended. The 222 pending complaints are to be resolved in the early days of 2025. These pending complaints are those reported to the Commission by NEDCo and GWL against their customers on the issues of surcharge. Out of the total number of complaints, 7 came from the field, 259 were written complaints, 348 were phone-in complaints, 49 were walk-in complaints, 769 were electronic (WhatsApp) complaints, and 3 complaints were lodged by the Damongo Consumer Service Committee.
Out of the total complaints of 1,435, complaints lodged with the Regional Office against NEDCo were 1,073, representing 74.77%. A total of 1,048 were resolved, representing a total resolution of 97.67%. A total number of 1,003 complaints against NEDCo were on Quality of Service, 40 complaints were on billing-related issues, 12 complaints were on metering, 7 complaints were on unlawful disconnection, 3 complaints were on payment issues, another 3 complaints were on consumer service delivery, with a single complaint on damaged property, and 4 other complaints.
Out of the total complaints of 112 complaints lodged with the Regional Office against GWL, representing 7.8%, a total number of 97, representing 86.61%, were resolved. A total of 104 complaints against GWL were about the quality of service, 7 complaints were lodged on billing, and 1 complaint on metering.
A total number of 250 complaints were lodged with the Commission by the utility service providers against their customers. These complaints were lodged by GWL and NEDCo against customers who either have been surcharged for illegal connection-related issues or who have been heavily owing the service providers. Out of these complaints, 68 were resolved.
Out of the total number of 1,073 complaints lodged with the Commission against NEDCo, 753 of them were reported directly to the Commission while 320 of the complaints were reported to NEDCo before being forwarded to the Commission. Out of the total number of 112 complaints reported to the Commission against GWL, 79 complaints were reported directly to the Commission while 33 were reported to GWL before being forwarded to the Regional Office. A total number of 250 complaints were reported to the Commission by the utility service providers against their customers/consumers.
The Northern Regional Office of the Commission facilitated an adjustment amounting to GHC107,861.21 in favour of 28 customers of NEDCo. A revenue recovery of GHC314,443.91 in favor of GWL from 111 customers surcharged for illegal connection activities. The Regional Office also facilitated the replacement and injection of 16 transformers, the replacement and relocation of 21 tilted or rotten low voltage poles, and the replacement of 10 meters for customers of GWL and 8 meters for customers of NEDCo.