By: Ama Gyamfuah
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Ashanti West Region has warned its customers and the general public about the illegal sale, distribution, and purchase of fake meters in the Ashanti Region.
The power distributor expressed serious concern over the proliferation of fake meters in their operational areas and has initiated measures to curb this illegal activity.
The power distributor also disclosed that, in collaboration with security agencies, substandard meters were confiscated during thorough inspections.
These inspections occurred at the Dabala Checkpoint on a bus traveling from Aflao to Kumasi and at Tech Junction on a VIP Bus.
Mr. Maxwell Dapaah, General Manager of ECG Ashanti-West, stated that private individuals are not authorized to install their own electric meters without approval from ECG.
These meters will not be registered in ECG’s system for billing and other commercial purposes. Therefore, meters installed by private individuals are illegal, and the company will take measures to remove them.
Mr. Maxwell Dapaah indicated that the company is actively clamping down on the use of fake meters, which are often installed without the company’s knowledge. He emphasized that this practice is having a serious negative impact on both the commercial and technical operations of the company.
“It is illegal to import meters into the country and also acquire meters from other sources apart from ECG. We will take all necessary legal actions against individuals who are trying to infiltrate our network with these fake meters including those who aid them by selling or buying those meters”.
Mr. Dapaah also revealed that meters installed by individual customers do not meet ECG’s meter specifications.
“These meters are not tested and calibrated by ECG to meet the requirements stated by regulatory agencies such as the Energy Commission and the Ghana Standards Authority, thereby posing danger such as fire outbreak, overloading and damage to transformers, resulting in prolonged outages and increase technical losses to the Company”, he said.
The ECG General Manager urged the public to help the company combat the issue of fake meters, emphasizing that their cooperation is essential for the company to collect sufficient revenue to sustain the electricity supply chain.
“Users of these foreign meters are not in the ECG database, so they consume electricity illegally without paying and this is not fair to customers who pay their bills. Such individuals usually complain that they are not receiving bills, and this is because their meters were obtained and installed illegally without following the process of acquiring meters. We want everyone consuming electricity to prioritize the payment of bills since it is a patriotic act to pay for electricity consumed”, he added.
“Some customers even distribute electricity to other customers illegally with these fake meters and substandard network that pose danger to life and property”, he said.
The General Manager called on the general public to assist the company to win the fight against illegal meters by reporting such people to the Police or any ECG Office and desist from patronizing them.
He further appealed to customers consuming electricity without paying as a result of faulty prepaid meters or direct connections to visit the nearest ECG Office to regularize their supply.
Mr. Dapaah urged customers to download the ECG PowerApp or use the shortcode *226# to pay all their outstanding bills to enable the company to provide stable power supply.