The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has been warned by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) to comply with regulatory sanctions or face significant penalties. PURC has imposed a penalty of GH¢ 5.868 million on ECG for failing to pay a three-day statutory charge of GH¢ 36,000.
The regulatory charge of 3,000 penalty units per breach, totalling GH¢ 5,868,000.00, was imposed on ECG for each of the 163 breaches. PURC expressed concern that failure to comply with the payment could lead to adverse effects on service quality and consumers who pay tariffs to the company.
Given the potential negative impact on consumers and service quality, PURC has held the Board Members of ECG liable for the payment of the penalty. The Commission highlighted that these Board Members were responsible for providing strategic direction to ensure the provision of safe, adequate, and efficient service to consumers.
The sanctions imposed on ECG stem from various instances of non-compliance, including failure to adhere to the Cash Waterfall Mechanism, regulatory requests for data, and the PURC Consumer Service Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2413). Specifically, ECG failed to comply with orders related to Tariff Revenue Allocation, provision of Regulatory Audit Data, and submission of information related to operational matters.