The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has identified major operational and customer service deficiencies in electricity and water delivery across parts of the Ashanti Region following an extensive five-day monitoring exercise involving the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ghana Water Limited (GWL), and licensed prepaid vending centres.
The exercise, led by Alhaji Jabaru Abubakar, Director of Regional Operations and Consumer Services, alongside Mr. Leon Acquaye, Deputy Director for Southern Operations, formed part of PURC’s mandate to ensure utility providers comply with regulatory standards and deliver reliable services to consumers.
The monitoring covered ECG district offices at Abuakwa, Asokwa, Kwabre and Ayigya, as well as GWL’s West One and West Two districts. Eight licensed prepaid vending centres were also inspected during the exercise.
According to the Commission, the assessment focused on compliance with PURC regulatory benchmarks, the efficiency of prepaid metering systems, customer service delivery, complaint handling procedures and overall consumer management systems.
The inspection revealed several operational challenges affecting electricity service delivery in the region. At Abuakwa and Asokwa, frequent power interruptions were reported to have disrupted customer service operations and prolonged waiting times for consumers seeking assistance.
PURC further noted that Abuakwa’s office was hindered by poor road access, while Asokwa faced delays in the supply of meter enclosures, slowing down new customer connections.
At Kwabre, the absence of a real-time queue management system reportedly contributed to long customer waiting periods. The district also recorded increasing cases of unauthorized electricity connections and meter tampering, resulting in both technical and commercial losses to ECG.
The Commission additionally observed that system latency was causing congestion at customer service desks.
In Ayigya, PURC identified delays in the Local Revenue Protection system between October 2025 and January 2026, while customer responsiveness was said to be below standard due to distractions and non-operational conversations at service desks. The Commission noted that the deployment of National Service personnel had not yet translated into reduced customer waiting times.
The monitoring exercise also uncovered several deficiencies within prepaid vending operations.
PURC reported persistent failures on the MMS platform, where some transactions failed to post, preventing customers from successfully loading credit onto their meters.
Consumers using MMS and Enersmart systems also complained of unusually fast credit depletion, while token cards were found to be vulnerable to magnetic interference. The Commission further observed that vending errors and incorrect customer inputs could not be reversed, creating inconvenience for consumers.
Some vending centres were also found to be operating with inadequate receipt paper supplies and low commission rates for vendors, a situation PURC warned could threaten the sustainability of vending operations.
Additionally, Enersmart receipts reportedly failed to display historical purchase records, contrary to regulatory requirements.
On the water supply front, GWL’s West One and West Two districts experienced intermittent “no-flow” situations linked to reduced production during power outages at treatment facilities.
Despite the supply challenges, West Two achieved an impressive 98 per cent revenue collection efficiency, while the District Commercial Officer at West One was commended for maintaining professional customer engagement practices.
However, PURC noted that security and access control at the West One district office had been weakened by the absence of a functional gate.
Following the exercise, the Commission issued a number of recommendations aimed at improving service reliability and customer satisfaction.
PURC urged ECG to install standby renewable energy systems, particularly solar photovoltaic solutions, at customer service centres to ensure uninterrupted operations during power outages.
The Commission also called for a comprehensive technical audit of the MMS and Enersmart prepaid systems to address persistent credit posting failures, data synchronization challenges and voltage instability concerns.
To improve vending operations, PURC directed ECG to ensure the regular supply of receipt paper to vending centres and review vendor commission structures to sustain operations and maintain accessibility for consumers.
District offices were further advised to introduce real-time queue management systems and strictly enforce customer service charters to improve communication with consumers regarding delays and service timelines.
PURC stressed that ECG, GWL and all licensed vending centres must fully comply with the provisions of L.I. 2414 governing utility service delivery standards.
The Commission warned that the identified deficiencies continue to undermine consumer confidence and contribute to non-compliance with established regulatory standards.
PURC has therefore directed ECG and GWL to submit corrective action plans within the stipulated timeframe, indicating that follow-up inspections will be conducted to assess implementation progress and verify improvements.
The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that consumers across the Ashanti Region receive reliable, fair and responsive electricity and water services.
