OUR goes on the offensive - Regulatory body to begin monitoring utility companies, says too many complaints come from customers
Published: Thursday | November 12, 2009
( l - r ) Mian, Charvis
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is to establish a department to monitor utility companies.
"If we are giving them rate increases this should result in improved efficiency for the consumers," Zia Mian, director general of OUR, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday.
"It will be mandatory that the regulator monitors all utilities for quality of service and see how they are handling the complaints, and if they don't treat them properly we will take action," Mian said.
The OUR has repeatedly expressed concern about the number of complaints it has received from consumers with the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) usually heading the list.
"The problem has been, and this is a major issue, that the utilities don't take the consumers seriously," Mian said.
52 per cent for JPS
Last year the OUR received 5,600 complaints with 52 per cent related to the JPS. Thirty-five per cent of the complaints were aimed at the National Water Commission with the rest shared between the telecommunications companies.
Billing by the utility companies remains the predominant concern of customers, with 53 per cent of the complaints related to higher-than-anticipated bills.
While the majority of the complaints remained unresolved at the end of the year, 67 per cent of those that were settled ended in favour of the companies.
But that has not satisfied the OUR, which remains concerned about the performance of the companies. The regulatory body also wants consumers to take their complaints first to the utilities before taking them to the OUR.
"We need to ensure that the utility (companies) provide not only the basic service but that they improve," Maurice Charvis, deputy director of the OUR, told the Editors' Forum. He said the regulatory body intended to be tough on the companies.
"We will issue directives and issue orders and if not satisfied, then take them before a resident magistrate for them to be prosecuted," Charvis said.
However, he noted that the OUR was short of the tools to directly sanction the utilities.
"We have written to the prime minister showing him that our enforcement powers are very weak," added Charvis.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
