The Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Mr Stephen Adu, has explained that the Commission never approved any quota system for water rates.

There is therefore, no need for consumers to pay minimum charges for water, which they have not consumed.

Mr Adu who was speaking at a public forum organised by the PURC on the new utility tariffs at Koforidua on Wednesday said, "there seems to be a little confusion on the issue".

He was reacting to complaints by the residents that the Ghana Water Company (GWC) had been imposing minimum charges on them during the dry season when their taps never run.

The GWC had been imposing minimum charges during the dry season, insisting that the people must pay once their houses remain connected to the company's main water line.

Mr Adu said the PURC had not taken any stand on the privatisation policy but "its responsibility is to ensure that who ever runs the utilities would be able to recover cost without passing on inefficiency and waste to consumers".

He said the PURC, by law, would continue to determine the tariffs of utilities and would not allow any service provider, whether state or private, to dictate the tariffs.

Mr Adu denied rumours that his outfit increased the tariffs to prepare the ground for the government's water privatisation programme.

He said about 78 per cent of residential consumers in the Eastern Region consume less than 300 units of electricity per month so they would enjoy the 40 to 60 per cent subsidised rates under the new tariffs system.

Mr John Oletey Otuteye, Consumer Services Manager of the PURC, called on residents' associations to register with the Commission and to provide it with information on the performance of the utility services in their areas.

Such information would help the PURC to monitor the performance of the utility companies and ensure that consumers receive quality service for their money, he added.

Mr Otuteye said the PURC had plans to form consumer services committees countrywide to collate and submit complaints to the PURC.

He said the PURC has also requested the utility companies to provide them with consumer charters, and added that the GWC has almost completed its charter

while the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has referred its document to the Commission for some amendments.

Most of the issues raised by consumers were on wrong billing by the ECG and the GWC's inability to attend to burst pipes in the Municipality, despite promptings from the public.