ECG: Prepaid credit deductions’re service charges

The Electricity Company of Ghana has attributed the deductions effected on prepaid electricity to service charges.

According to the power distribution company, all residential and non-residential electricity prepaid customers in the country are charged a monthly service charge depending on their consumption.

The Public Relations Manager of the utility provider, Theresa Osabutey, disclosed this in an interview with Benjamin Akakpo on the Executive Breakfast Show on Class91.3FM.

The explanation was in response to numerous complaints by prepaid power consumers about the credit deductions.

Ms Osabutey stated: “For prepaid, we run a cycle – a one-month cycle – and, so, at the beginning of the month or at the beginning of the cycle, every customer is supposed to pay what we call the service charge and the service charge is paid once a month.”

She added: “When you buy power for the first time, that service charge will be taken out of the credit or the money you’re paying, depending on your consumption”, adding: “So, if you’re a residential customer and you consume from 0 to say 200, for instance, the service charge that will be taken is GHS2.94 pesewas and if you’re a non-residential customer, you pay a service charge of GHS12.43 pesewas and this is once every month.”

Ms Osabutey also refuted assertions that consumers get the full sum of the prepaid units they purchase when they top up their prepaid from the offices of the ECG instead of the vendors.

“There’s no way you’ll buy and get more from ECG’s office than you’ll get from a vendor because it is not the vendor who is going to do the calculation, the calculation is done in the metre, so, all you do as a customer is to deposit the money and then the metre will do the calculation”.