Dear Editor,
Please allow me space in your publication to respond to a letter published in the Guyana Times on Wednesday October 13, captioned ‘Consumers are the ones suffering from utility inefficiencies’ written by R. Ramoutar.
There are some inaccuracies and misconceptions about the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in Mr Ramoutar’s letter that must be addressed.
The PUC is a regulatory body that monitors the overall services provided by the utilities. Issues of an individual nature, such as pointed out by Mr Ramoutar must be brought to the attention of the PUC in the form of a complaint before the PUC can take action.
While we at the PUC understand the situation facing Mr Ramoutar, he should understand that the PUC operates within a legislative framework; as such, while we may be able to bring to the attention of the utility any shortcomings that may be reported to us we are not the managers of the utilities. Mr Ramoutar has never made any report to us and we cannot represent his case until a formal request is made to us.
We would appreciate it if Mr Ramoutar can send us a copy of the bill where he was overbilled 50 times more than his usual consumption.
We have recognized several issues with the Guyana Power and Light Inc and have engaged them on these issues. Recently we engaged the GPL about the reported practice of issuing bills without a bill issue date and disconnecting consumers before the stipulated time. These have since been corrected.
The PUC is not a consumer watch body; it is a regulatory body. We monitor the performance of the utilities to ensure that they discharge their function within the confines of the law and their respective licence agreement.
We would continue to encourage consumers to report to us any difficulty when dealing with the utilities. Our office is located at 298 Church Street, Queenstown, Georgetown between Oronoque and New Garden Streets or we can be contacted on telephone number 226-7042, or consumers can visit our website at www.puc.org.gy
Editor, we would appreciate it if before publishing letters of this nature we could be contacted for a comment to avoid misconceptions in the minds of the readers of the letter pages.
We remain committed to regulating utilities for efficient service and protecting consumers’ interests.
Yours faithfully,
Vidiahar Persaud
Secretary
