While acknowledging the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) fee of $7,500 for the reconnection of the water supply to residential customers as being “steep,” the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has ruled that it “shall remain in place.”
It has, however, decided, among other things, that from January 1 of next year there will be an increase in the company’s credit limit from $10,000 to $12,500 to allow consumers an extended grace period for payments.
According to the decision rendered in Order No. 2 of 2022 as it relates to the review of Residential Reconnection Non-Volun-tary Fees approved under Order 2 of 2018 for Guy-ana Water Inc, released yesterday, the Commission had to balance the considerations advanced by the Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) on behalf of residential customers with those submitted by GWI.
The Commission said in its decision that it is conscious that the actual costs relating to disconnections and reconnections are in most instances above that of the rate set by the Commission in 2018 and that the ‘turn off’ option which costs the company $6,600 is not a viable option by the company for repeated/delinquent consumers.
According to the Com-mission, it “also recognizes that the fee of $7,500 is inclusive of the costs associated with both the disconnection and reconnection of consumers.” As a result, it decided that “in the circumstances, it is hereby ordered that the rate of $7,500 as approved for the residential reconnection [after] non-voluntary disconnection of consumers … shall remain in place.”
It, however, ordered that effective January 1, 2023, GWI is to increase its credit limit from $10,000 to $12,500 to allow consumers an extended grace period for payments and extend the 4-hour disconnection notice given to consumers to 24 hours.
Further, the Commission has ordered GWI to review the costs associated with the disconnection and reconnection of consumers with what it says must be a view to implementing cost effective disconnection methods in an effort to decrease any deficit to the Company as a result of disconnections and reconnections.
Further, the Commission mandates that with effect from November 1, 2022, GWI must submit on or before the 15th of every month: a list of the disconnected consumers and their outstanding balances at the disconnection, the method of disconnection employed by the company for each consumer, the total costs incurred by the company as it relates to each method of disconnection and the total number of consumers reconnected and the costs associated with same.
The Commission also wants to know the number of consumers who have entered into payment contract, the quantum of the arrears, the contract period and the total revenue received by the company as it relates to reconnection fees.
The Commission said it is of the view that the reduction of the non-revenue water and the continuous metering of unmetered consumers should have the consequential effect of resulting in the increased cash inflows to the company.
The PUC said further that it is committed to a subsequent review of the company’s tariff structure in the future towards the incremental reduction of non-revenue water on a bi-annual basis.
The Commission has also ordered GWI to submit to the Commission on a quarterly basis its progress reports on its achievements as it relates to the metering of all unmetered consumers, with a view to achieving 100% metering across its consumer database by December 3rd, 2024, or such time as may be practicable to do so.
At one of the hearings before the PUC last month, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GWI, Shaik Baksh, had said that freely reconnecting its service to disconnected customers, as the Consumers Association had suggested, would plunge the utility company further into debt.
The GCA had challenged the GWI to justify and reduce the fee.
At the hearing, Baksh had stressed that the reconnection fee was far below what the company was paying contractors for disconnecting delinquent customers. “We cannot disconnect and reconnect freely without a charge. This will have an impact on GWI’s debts and our debts [are] going up every day. We have a concern about that… We must impose a reconnection charge…,” he had said.
Consultant of the GCA, Dr. Yog Mahadeo had made an impassioned plea to the company to reassess and redress the reconnection cost, which he had described as “super high.” Mahadeo argued that it was their view that the company is utilising the opportunity for profit gains under the cover of tariff and reconnection fees.
Mahadeo on behalf of the GCA had pleaded with the commission to overhaul the rates reassess and remove the “draconian reconnection rates” and recommended that reconnection rates be no more than $100.
Baksh called the $100 reconnection fee proposed by the GCA ridiculous, saying it would put a dent in the company’s finances.
