Residential consumers of electricity will from today [1st April 2018] pay 15 percent less than the tariff they previously paid.
This is due to the full implementation of the recently announced electricity tariff reduction from residential and non-residential power users in the country.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in March announced a reduction in electricity tariffs of between 17 and 30 percent for residential and commercial consumers.
Though the reduction was scheduled to take effect on March 15, the ECG suggested that its monthly billing system couldn’t allow the immediate implementation.
The Managing Director of the ECG, Engineer Samuel Boakye-Appiah in an earlier press conference explained why the reduction could not take effect as indicated.
He said that “the monthly billing cycle of the prepayment metering system does not technically allow ECG to implement the review in the middle of the month”.
“Consequently, prepaid customers of ECG should note that the programming of the billing system will refund the reduction from the implementation date of the 15th to 31st March 2018. When they deposit cash or purchase electricity from 1st April 2018 onwards,” he added.
Engineer Boakye-Appiah pointed out that, the prepayment system will detect aggregate purchase for consumers in March, and then compute the reduction due them, from the effective date of 15th March to 31st March.
“This will be refunded to you on your next visit to vending point”.
He stated that the average percentage reduction, which is 15.5 percent for residential, 30 percent for non-residential, 25 percent for SLT and 10 percent for the mines, effective 15th March 2018 is only on energy consumption.
“Therefore the addition of statutory levies and other fixed charges will reduce the average percentage relief announced by the PURC”, he noted.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana