Regional News of Tuesday, 1 February 2011

Source: GNA

PURC to implement the automated tarrif adjustment this year

Accra, Feb. 1, GNA - The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) would this year implement the automated tariff adjustment system in all its transactions, Mr Emmanuel Annan, PURC Board Chairman has said. He said under the system, utility tariffs would be reviewed every thre= e months rather than the annual or bi-annual adjustments.

Mr Annan announced this when he led a delegation of utility providers to the Castle to inform the Vice President John Dramani Mahama of the new development and how it would be implemented.

Last year, the Vice President after the announcement of new tariffs called on the utility providers to review their tariff on regular basis, in order not to accumulate and release high tariffs for consumers. Subsequently, the utility providers were advised to implement the automated tariff adjustment formula which was quite insignificant and could be more acceptable.

Mr Annan, who was unable to announce the month of implementation, however gave the assurance that 93it will be implemented within this year.= " He said they were still fine-tuning the variables and upon completion the system would be implemented.

The Vice President, who met with them in a closed-door meeting, earlie= r called on them to expedite action on the system in order not to repeat the rebuttals and bashings they received last year after the announcement of th= e new tariffs. "It will be better to review your tariff steadily, than waiting for a year or more to release heavy figures that will create discomfort for consumers." 1 Feb. 11

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