…encourages consumers to bring unsettled matters to their attention
Over 100 complaints have been registered to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) against two utility companies –GTT and the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) for the year 2017 so far.
PUC’s Complaints Division Manager, Destra Bourne told Guyana Times that as of March 2017 the numbers were 29 complaints against GPL and 94 against GTT. She noted that the PUC was able to resolve 44 of those complaints against GTT.
According to Bourne technical issues such as no dial tone were the most prevalent complaints registered against GTT in 2017.
In 2016, the Commission secured credits for consumers from the utility companies in the sum of $13,285,302. The credits included various sums for overbilling and failing to correct defaults in time.
Bourne also stated that the PUC would arrange rebates for customers, who would have been paying for a service that was not working for a period of time.
“Once the service has been restored, they’re entitled to some amount of rebate for the period the service would not have been working” she said.
“That’s for GT&T. In the case of GPL customers, it’s in the form of rebates and in the form of credits to the account for GPL not meeting the service standards.”
She posited that the PUC has been able to garner $1.2 million for customers, inclusive of complaints that were pending from last year.
The Complaints Division Manager in a Guyana Times report encouraged customers who have been plagued by poor utility services and lack of resolutions to bring the matter to the PUC’s attention while emphasising that the process was actually a simple one.
“The procedure is quite simple. If you have a problem with one of the utility (companies), your first step is to visit the utility and make a complaint in relation to your problem. That is giving the utility the first option to deal with whatever issue you have.”
“If you are not satisfied with how they dealt with the problem of the resolution, then you can seek redress from the PUC. If the complaint has merit, we will follow that complaint up with the utility. If we notice that the utility would have made the correct decision based on the matter in front of us, we will advise you on that” said Bourne.
