(Kingston, Jamaica; 2025 January 2): There was a 103% increase in utility consumer contacts to the Office of Utilities Regulation’s (OUR’s) Consumer Affairs Unit (CAU) during the 2024 July-September period compared to the preceding quarter.
The CAU received 1,581 contacts for the quarter, compared to 778 in the 2024 April-June period. The information is contained in OUR’s Quarterly Performance Report (QPR) for 2024 July to September, representing the quarter immediately following Hurricane Beryl.
The report reveals that the most significant increases by complaint category were Rebate (380%), Interruption of Service (320%), Billing Matters (116%) and Poor Service Quality (21%).
The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) registered the largest block of complaints with 908 (57%) of the contacts received, followed by the National Water Commission with 256 contacts (16%). Columbus Communications (Flow) and Cable and Wireless Jamaica Limited (Flow) accounted for 186 (12%) and 162 (10%), respectively, of all contacts received during the period.
Billing matters, at 50%, remained the main reason utility consumers contacted the CAU, representing a three-percentage point increase compared to the preceding quarter. JPS and NWC accounted for the most billing-related matters, with 549 (35%) and 169 (11%), respectively. Some of the billing matters, specifically high consumption and estimated billing, related to Hurricane Beryl.
At 29% of total contacts, Service Interruption remained the second highest reason for customer contact with the CAU for the review period, followed by Poor Service Quality, Irregular Supply, Disconnection, Rebate and Guaranteed Standards. Service interruption contacts increased by 15 percentage points to 29% when compared to the preceding quarter.
OUR’s Intervention Secures Sums for Affected Customers
Through the OUR’s intervention, $1,375,455.85 was secured for utility consumers. Of this amount, NWC and JPS accounted for $1,159,182.33 (84%) and $159,591.81 (12%) respectively. The remaining $56,681.71 (4%) was shared between Columbus Communications Limited (Flow) and C&WJ. While $270,682.89 (20%) of the total credits secured were recorded during the reporting period, they were applied to customers’ accounts by the service providers in previous periods.
Guaranteed Standards
For JPS, the data indicated that 20,648 Guaranteed Standards breaches were committed during the quarter, representing a 13% increase over the preceding period. These breaches attracted compensatory payments of approximately $40.64 million.
However, no compensatory payments were made as JPS is awaiting a response from the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport (MSETT) for Force Majeure relief (suspension) from the Guaranteed Standards for the period 2024 July 2 – August 12. JPS advised that the Force Majeure request to MSETT was due to the effects of Hurricane Beryl on the Island, which affected its ability to meet the requirements of the Guaranteed Standards.
NWC’s Guaranteed Standards compliance report indicates that 3,987 breaches were committed during the review period, representing a 40% increase over the preceding period. These breaches had a potential payout of approximately $18.53 million. However, actual payments amounted to approximately $5.26 million, or 28% of total potential payments, and were made through automatic credits to the affected accounts. The remaining 72% of potential payments not made include those breaches for which the affected customers did not submit the required claim forms for validation.
The OUR’s Quarterly Performance Report for the 2024 July – September quarter is on its website: OUR.ORG.JM.
–30—
