The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has given the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) a 48-hour ultimatum to address growing consumer complaints about the rapid depletion of prepaid electricity credits.
The directive follows an emergency meeting between the regulator and the power distributor on Thursday, February 26, 2026, amid widespread reports from customers that their purchased units are exhausting much faster than anticipated.
In a statement, PURC instructed ECG to submit a detailed report within the timeframe, clearly explaining the root causes of the anomalies in the prepaid metering system and outlining immediate corrective actions being taken to fix the problem.
The intervention aims to safeguard consumers and rebuild public trust in the prepaid vending and metering infrastructure. PURC emphasised that it stands ready to apply stricter enforcement measures if ECG fails to comply or resolve the concerns promptly.
Acting Executive Secretary of PURC, Dr Shafic Suleman, who spoke on Channel One TV on Thursday, February 26, reiterated that consumer protection is the Commission’s foremost priority.
“The consumer must be protected, safeguarded and be able to have equal access to ECG and that is the focus. ECG is supposed to work timeously to solve the problem,” he stated.
Dr Suleman expressed confidence that ECG would act swiftly but warned that the regulator would not hesitate to invoke appropriate legal sanctions in the event of non-compliance.
The complaints have intensified following the implementation of a recent tariff adjustment under the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), with many consumers alleging irregularities or over-billing in the system.