TImBia GH Trending News
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is set to undertake a massive disconnection exercise to recover a debt of GH₵5.7 billion owed by its customers. The ECG has called on defaulting customers, including private manufacturing industries, mining firms, and some government institutions, to settle their debts or risk disconnection.
The Energy Ministry, which supervises the ECG, was affected by the exercise when its power supply was disconnected over unpaid bills. However, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Mahama, revealed that the Energy Ministry has agreed to settle its indebtedness.
Mahama disclosed that private manufacturing industries and mining firms are the biggest debtors, and the disconnection exercise will focus on these areas. He added that a chunk of the debts is owed by industries.
The ECG has already started mapping the areas where the disconnection exercise will take place, and Mahama has stressed that no intervention will get them to stop the exercise. He also noted that ECG staff are not mandated to collect cash, as the company has a new platform that allows customers to generate pay-in slips, and receive notifications to pay by mobile money, Vodafone cash, bank card, or pay at the nearest bank.
Meanwhile, Parliament has paid GH¢8.5 million out of GH¢13 million owed to the ECG to avert disconnection from the national grid. The ECG team is also in a meeting with the Ghana Airports Company Limited, which owed GH¢48 million in arrears last year, and has since paid GH¢20 million, leaving a balance of GH¢28 million.
