Evidence of collusion between some Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) contractors and consumers to evade disconnection for non-payment of electricity bills and to secure electricity services illegally had led to termination of employment agreements with a number of contractors, a well-placed GPL source told Stabroek Business on Tuesday.
“It is true that there are corrupt practices involving contractors and consumers. In fact, GPL now regards that as a major problem,” the source said. At least two residential consumers with whom Stabroek Business spoke said they had offered bribes to contractors to retain electricity services in cases where payments were overdue and services were about to be disconnected. “Nobody wants their electricity disconnected. Sometimes it is just a matter of buying time, maybe an hour or so, to go and pay up,” one consumer said. But the GPL source told Stabroek Business that while, “in those circumstances,” the company had previously granted the consumer the prerogative of legitimately asking the contractor for a brief period (an hour or so) to make such payments, in which case the contractor would be obliged to “hold off” on disconnection, that facility has been withdrawn since it was discovered that several promises to make immediate payment were not being honoured.
On Sunday GPL published an advertisement in the Stabroek News headlined “offering bribes to staff/contractors” in which it advised consumers not to offer “incentives” in either cash or kind to staff or contractors.
The GPL source said such “incentives” are frequently offered and accepted to facilitate either the retention of services which ought correctly to be disconnected for non-payment or to provide service in cases where it is not authorized and paid for. This newspaper understands the delinquents who may be involved in offering bribes for the illegal retention of electricity include several business houses.
The GPL source said the problem of collusion between contractors and consumers was “a countrywide concern” but that it was “far more prevalent” in Region Four.
Meanwhile, a serving GPL contractor with whom this newspaper spoke said that the problem of corrupt practices went beyond “small deals” that are made simply to save an ordinary consumer from disconnection. “It goes higher up, much higher up. Sometimes members of staff are involved in these rackets and the hustle is about more than reconnection fees.” According to the contractor the publication of the notice on Sunday is “a sign” that the losses to the company associated with “scams” is becoming unbearable and that they are sending a signal that they want to stop it. “Whether or not they can stop it is another matter,” the contractor said.
The company source told Stabroek Business that GPL was seeking to eradicate the practice as part of its pursuit of “an enhanced relationship with consumers.” While the source conceded that long queues at the GPL’ s Middle Street and Main Street offices might be responsible for delayed payments, customers have long been offered the option of utilising other payment services including commercial banks, Bill Express, Western Union Mobile Money and Sure Pay. The source also disclosed that GPL would be creating three new consumer offices at Mon Repos, Grove and Parika in order to better facilitate various types of customer services including the timely payment of electricity bills.
