General News of Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2024-04-16PURC slaps ECG board members with GHC5.8m fine over power outages
Samuel Dubik Mahama, Managing Director of ECG
Ghanaian
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has imposed a hefty fine of GHC5,868,000.00 on board members of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for their alleged failure to notify consumers about planned power outages between January and March 2024.
The penalty comes following an investigation revealing 163 instances where ECG did not comply with statutory notification regulations for planned outages.
Read full article/>
"The Commission has determined that having regard to the nature of ECG’s ownership and business, the imposition of the penalty of Five Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS 5,868,000.00) on ECG would be counter-productive, as payment from ECG’s revenue would have a rebounding adverse effect on quality of service and consumers who pay tariffs to the company," the PURC stated in a letter to ECG.
"For that reason, in the interest of justice and to protect the interests of consumers, the Commission shall hold the Board Members of ECG who were in office from 1 January to 18 March 2024 liable for the payment of the Five Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS 5,868,000.00)," it added.
The regulatory charge, announced in a letter to ECG, mandates the affected board members to pay the fine into a dedicated fuel account controlled jointly by the Ministries of Energy and Finance. This action stems from concerns that burdening ECG with the fine could impair its service delivery.
Additionally, ECG faces a separate penalty of GHC36,000 for incomplete submission of its bank account details to the Commission. Failure to rectify this issue could result in further daily penalties until compliance is achieved.
Moreover, ECG has been instructed to disburse GHC446,283,706.29 to Category B beneficiaries under the Cash Waterfall Mechanism. The Commission has set a deadline of April 30, 2024, for this payment, warning that failure to comply will result in repercussions for the board members and management.
