Krobo Odumase residents’ electricity debt not reduced – PDS clarifies

Power Distribution Services (PDS) has dismissed earlier media reports that it waived over GH¢100 million of the debt owed the company by residents of Krobo Odumase in the Eastern Region. The company, in a statement, explained the downward review of the debt from GH¢195,725,500.29 to GH¢84,625,624.87 was as a result of a “data cleansing and reconciliation” process it embarked upon. There was unrest in the area last week as the residents clashed with PDS, claiming they were being overbilled by the power company. A meeting between assembly members of the municipality, PDS and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) culminated in an agreed roadmap to address the recurring clashes over non-payment of bills.

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According to the PDS, item 3 on the roadmap was misconstrued by a section of the public to mean a waiver. “The initial debt of GH¢195,725,500.29 was as a result of estimated bills of accumulated consumption due to challenges beyond the control of the then ECG… However, in 2017, upon a series of engagements and negotiations, with the residents, the Company was granted access to capture their actual electricity consumption which led to the process of ‘data cleansing and reconciliation’ of their bills. “This is a normal process of correcting billing anomalies. This exercise, therefore, revealed the actual amount owed by the Krobo residents to the tune of GH¢84,625,624.87, which is a reduction of the initial stated estimated debt,” the statement clarified. The PDS urges the public to take not of the clarification. Source: editors.3news.com|Ghana