OUR investigates

In the face of increasing questions about its usefulness and calls for it to be scrapped, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) yesterday announced that it was intensifying its ongoing regulatory oversight of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).

The Zia Mian-led watchdog agency said it had taken note of the concerns raised by members of the public and its oversight would focus on JPS customer service and billing issues.

In an apparent stab at its critics, the OUR argued that weeks ago it escalated its review of the JPS practices to address the concerns raised by members of the public.

According to the OUR, it has determined that it was now necessary to specifically investigate issues such as the legitimacy of the high consumption-billing complaints following the replacement of old (electromagnetic) meters with new 'digital' meters.

The OUR added that it was also probing the process that JPS has followed in effecting the changeover of the meters and the appropriateness of JPS's current back-billing policies and procedures.

The extent to which the billing practices are in compliance with the existing quality-control procedures (including meter reading, high/low meter readings and processing) is also to be probed.

The OUR said it expects to complete this investigation within six weeks before making public its findings and taking the necessary action.