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GNCCI has notified Parliament’s Select Committee on Mines and Energy of its intention to petition the Committee over the increasing utility tariffs by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
They made this decision after the Chamber appealed several times to the PURC to revise the tariffs for large-scale businesses. This is because the current economic crisis is causing a significant impact on their operations.
This has forced most of them to look elsewhere for cheaper tariffs, while others have folded.
As PURC negotiations ended inconclusively, GNCCI president Clement Osei Amoako said his organization would push for utility tariffs to be lowered.
There is a way to get a downward review of utility tariffs. “They would have to look at it.”
We will lobby the Parliament Select Committee and all those that matter, so that the current price does not remain. In this way, ordinary Ghanaians and businesses will survive.
The Chief Executive of the PURC, Dr. Ishmael Ackah, responded sharply. He said that since the Commission has already gazetted the tariffs as law to take effect in February 2023, the PURC cannot do anything at the moment.
There will be other quarterly adjustments soon. At the moment, PURC’s task is to establish protocols for engagements.
In the past six months, electricity and water tariffs have increased significantly.
First, the electricity bill shot up 26.6% in September 2022, then 29.9% in February 2023, totaling 56.5%.
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Source: Omanghana.com/SP
