Efficient and effective service delivery is at the heart of provider-customer relationship. Service providers owe it a duty to provide quality service to their clients in order to remain in business.
Poor and unreliable service delivery is at the core of major complaints against utility service providers in Ghana.
Lack of swift response from service providers to complaints of poor quality and unreliable services has undermined client confidence in the services of the Ghana Water Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana.
It is our considered opinion that utility service providers have not been swift and effective in responding to complaints of poor customer service.
It is, therefore, refreshing that the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), the agency mandated to regulate the provision of utility services in the electricity and water sectors, has set up an Energy Test Meter Laboratory to improve and monitor quality and also assess the integrity of meters.
We are told that the test laboratory is equipped to test both single-phase and three-phase metres as well as conduct some specific tests to ascertain the overall integrity of meters used by the electricity providers.
It is expected to enhance the efficiency of the PURC to promptly resolve consumers’ complaints and impact positively on the performance of utilities.
Certainly, the move is in the right direction, to get the utility service providers to be accountable for their services, in terms of provision of reliable and high quality service to customers to justify their billing regime.
Customers cannot continue to endure poor and unreliable services from our utility service providers.
Indeed, the PURC has scored high marks and justifies its existence as statutory entity that receives and investigates complaints and settles disputes between customers and public utility service providers.
One can hope that PURC would continue to be innovative and proactive in applying technology to resolve customer grievances to improve quality service as well as enhance the profitability of the utility providers and client satisfaction.
While applauding the PURC for the establishment of the laboratory, we urge the personnel manning the laboratory to be very professional in their work and not to engage in any act that would compromise their integrity.
We urge the public not to lose hope in the utility service providers, but to continue to channel their grievances to the PURC to resolve them, for the mutual benefit of both the service provider and the client.
We also urge the utility service providers to be very responsive to the needs of their client by improving upon the quality of their services before PURC would even come in to resolve whatever complaints from clients.
Good and reliable utility service deliveries are key to the wellbeing of consumers and organisational growth that cannot be compromised.
Suffice it to add that let us promptly pay our bills and demand quality and reliable services from the utility providers.
