A total of 303 complaints constituting 84.4 per cent were lodged against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) while 56 complainants representing 15.6 per cent was made against the Ghana Water Company Lim­ited (GWCL).

The number of complaints increased over the 2023 and 2024 figures, which stood at 322 and 312, with the Commission resolv­ing 299 cases representing 93 per cent and 293 cases representing 94 per cent, respectively.

The Central Regional Manager of the PURC, Francis Baidoo, told The Ghanaian Times that the increase in the number of com­plaints was due to the sustained stakeholder engagements.

He explained that, a total of GH¢ 47,713.2 was received from utility companies as a refund for consumers while GH¢11,141.79 was received as revenue recovery during the quarter.

He said, the office as part of its activities for the first quarter of 2025, monitored a total of 10 customer service centres of the regulated utility companies in the Central Region.

Mr Baidoo said unscrupulous people continue to steal electricity cables belonging to ECG thereby putting several communities in darkness, adding that, “Few of such cases were recorded in the region during the first quarter of this year”.

The vandalisation of electricity transformers, he said, was one of the biggest challenges, adding that some people during the period, vandalised the ECG transformers at Winneba.

He, therefore, appealed to residents in various communities across the region to prevent cable theft and vandalisation of trans­formers due to its negative effect on consumers, utility companies and the nation in general.

He mentioned some of the places visited as the ECG cus­tomer centres at Kasoa South District, Kasoa North District, Agona Swedru District, and Win­neba District.

That of the GWL customer service centres visited, he said were; Dunkwa, Swedru, Winneba and Cape South.

The monitoring, he said, was done under the Commission’s mandate to ensure the utility companies’ adherence to the PUC’s benchmark for quality customer service by the utility providers.

He further said that consumer clinics were held in Gyahadze, Ekumfi Suprodo, Ekumfi Amis­sano, Ekumfi Obidan, Ajumako Kumasi and Abandze to sensitise members of the communities to the work of the Commission while addressing their concerns.

Mr Baidoo said consumers raised concerns and complaints about delay in new service con­nection, exorbitant monthly bills and predictive billing system.

He noted that, the concerns of the consumers were effectively handled, high bills were corrected with an adjustment passed on the affected customer’s account. Issues of delay of NSC were han­dled and customers connected to the grid.