In the Volta Region, the Electricity Firm of Ghana (ECG) Revenue Taskforce has launched an operation to clamp down on illicit connections and recover money owing to the company.
Surcharging customers who were in arrears and those who participated in power theft across its operational areas in the Volta and Oti regions was part of the initiative, which has so far returned over GH1.5 million in retrieved money.
The ECG Revenue Taskforce began visiting houses, hostels, hotels, cold shops, taverns, restaurants, and government organizations that owed the corporation in 2022 to ensure that their debts were paid.
Customers who were detected using electricity illegally were also surcharged, depriving the firm of much-needed cash. "Following the inauguration of the national taskforce by the Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the region has also commenced a special exercise to support the activities of the task force to help the company retrieve money owed by some customers and curb the menace of illegal connection," Emmanuel Lumor, the General Manager of ECG in the Volta Region, told the media.
Nobody was spared.
Mr Lumor stated that the task force's efforts were in compliance with LI 2413, which allows the corporation to disconnect clients who do not pay their invoices within 14 days of receipt.
He went on to say that the task force had also delivered disconnection notices to several institutions in compliance with LI 2413, allowing them three days to reconnect.
"After receiving notification of disconnection, several schools, such as the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and the Ho Technical University, made efforts to clear all of their debts. Customers who have not made a financial commitment would be disconnected from the national grid until they pay their bills, he added.
Customers have been visited in the Ho, Denu, Sogakope, and Kpando areas, and the task force plans to visit another 100 debtors to guarantee that their debts are paid.
Sensitisation
Mr Lumor stated that the business has increased public service announcements, radio education, and other stakeholder engagements to educate consumers about the need of paying their bills on time in order to assist ECG better serve them.
He went on to say that the task team also looked for unlawful connections, adding that "meter bypass, unauthorised and direct connections, and meter manipulation are some of the illegalities identified during this operation."
He criticized how some customers' unlawful connections harmed the company's financial health and prohibited it from pursuing projects that would benefit consumers.
"As a firm, we have to pay power producers when we buy power from them to distribute to our valued consumers," he explained. "Thus, unlawfully using power prohibits the company from receiving money to pay these crucial actors in the energy supply chain."
Caution
He warned the general public to do the right thing by paying their bills on time and to avoid unlawful acts such as meter bypass, which he described as a criminal and extremely hazardous behavior that might result in fires and the death of people due to electrocution.
Mr Lumor urged the public to assist the firm in its battle against illicit connections by reporting persons who participate in such crimes to the local ECG office or calling the national taskforce on telephone number 0551444011, and said there was a monetary prize for doing so.