Instead of the initial two-year payback time, the Electricity Firm of Ghana (ECG) has given consumers in the Krobo District a five-year repayment opportunity to satisfy all of their debts to the company.
Mr. Emmanuel Akinie, ECG Tema Regional General Manager, explained that the new repayment arrangement was the result of a series of meetings and pleas from indebted customers, and that management decided to extend the payment period.
He went on to say that ECG Management has ring-fenced the debt, which now has a deadline of 2017 for Krobo clients who are in debt. Mr Akinie said that the ECG Management opted to forego the usual practice of moving current debt to prepaid meters as a special incentive for Krobo consumers.
"One of the protocols is to migrate existing debt on post-paid meters to prepaid meters, which are then used to manage the debt," he explained. "However, this protocol has been waived for customers in the Krobo district, which means ECG management has decided not to use prepaid meters to manage the debt payment in Krobo District," he added.
"However, after recent engagements with National Security and others, ECG Management has opted to reschedule the debt from two to five years." As a result, all clients are asked to come to our office for debt schedule arrangements outside of the prepaid meter installation meters," he noted.
Mr. Akinie explained. They would sit down with each client to establish how much must be paid monthly or weekly, based on the customer's and ECG's flexibility.
He said the company was replacing all post-paid meters with pre-paid meters in the Krobo district, with a pre-installation survey on around 3,000 meters in the Kpong and Kporgunor regions, and that the operation will be expanded to other locations. "Last week, we also started with the physical prepayment installation. We have been able to install 25 prepaid meters for residential and non-residential clients as of Wednesday, May 04, 2022, and the crew is continuing with the installation," he stated.
According to him, the district's first 25 customers utilizing pre-paid meters could attest to the fact that they were able to effectively purchase power, indicating that their prepaid meters were not being used to handle debts from post-paid meters.