The Ashanti South Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has embarked on an operation to analyse its debt portfolio in an attempt to reduce and rectify all challenges within the metering system.
As part of the operation, the region is deploying its staff into the various districts to address all debtors, from domestic customers to special load tariff users. As of April 2024, the total debt portfolio of the entire Ashanti South, which includes districts such as Obuasi, Manso Nkwanta, and Dunkwa, stood at GH¢652 million.
This amount was owed by 183,000 postpaid customers scattered across the region, including Special Load Tariff customers. In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Ashanti South Regional Manager of ECG, Frederick Kwabena Bediako, said an analysis of the portfolio showed that about 8,700 customers, which represents about 4.5 per cent of the total customers, owed about 35 per cent of the total debt.
Consequently, he said the operation was targeted at chasing the 4.5 per cent of the customers to claim about 35 per cent of the debt initially and then proceed further. He mentioned that the exercise was in phases, with the first phase in Obuasi yielding positive results, collecting about GH¢1.3 million in debt.
Mr. Bediako reported that in Obuasi, although the team was expected to screen 3,000 customers with a debt portfolio of GH¢203 million, by the end of the first week in May, they managed to screen 899 customers and identified several anomalies.
For instance, 66 meters with a total debt of GH¢1.34 million had been removed from their geographical locations and could not be found, while 68 other meters were untraceable.
The Regional Manager emphasized that the meters with specific Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates remain the property of ECG, and no one has the right to remove or relocate them without the company's express consent.
He said the region would monitor and evaluate the impact of the exercise, after which it would name and shame those who illegally reconnect themselves. Mr. Bediako appealed to the customers to pay their bills to avoid the embarrassment of disconnection and possible prosecution.
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