By John Myers Jr., Staff ReporterTHE OFFICE of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has asked
the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to submit a report on the method it has been using to bill customers.
This comes in the wake of an increase in customer complaints about excessive electricity bills.
Maurice Charvis, director of research and planning at the OUR, said the agency has written to the JPS, requesting that it conducts a thorough investigation and submit a report detailing the method used to bill customers, the consumption patterns of all its customers, and the number of complaints received.
CONSUMPTION PROBLEM
He said the report, which is to be submitted in the next couple of weeks, will assist the OUR in determining "if it (excessive bills) is a consumption problem or a billing problem." Mr. Charvis, however, pointed out that while there have been numerous reports of excessive billings, the majority of consumers have not been reporting the matter to the OUR.
"We have had some complaints but not as much as we hear in the media," he said. "We need to see these bills, and complaints so that we could have a database ... if we had a database we could ask more searching questions."
But the JPS, in response to the complaints, has blamed the rise in electricity bills on "the high cost of fuel on the world market, along with a disruption to the JPS's bill estimation routine."
The light and power company, in a press release, said the recent passage of Hurricane Ivan had resulted in a disruption in estimation billing routine caused by the redeployment of field personnel, such as meter readers, to assist in the rehabilitation process.
"As far as I am concerned, it is a matter that needs to be looked into," Ken Chaplin, a member of the OUR's Consumer Advisory Committee said yesterday.
UNUSUAL AMOUNTS
"The reconciliation process, which is currently taking place, has resulted in some customers receiving bills that are lower than usual, while a number of customers have received bills that are higher than usual," the company said. It said an analysis of the bills showing unusual amounts reveal that "70 per cent are lower than the respective customers' normal consumption trend, while 30 per cent show higher than normal consumption." Furthermore, customers whose bills were under-estimated in part due to a 25 per cent discount, would have seen an increased bill for November, the JPS said.
The company is, however, maintaining that outside of the factors outlined, there is no problem with its billing system.
