$212m paid to customers by Utility companies for service breaches in 2023
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Utility providers paid out a significant $212 million to customers in 2023 for service breaches. According to a news release on Monday, this is a 35 per cent increase over the $157m paid out in 2022.
Of the total amount for 2023, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) secured $1,824,151 for customers through its intervention on utility complaints. The National Water Commission (NWC) accounted for 62 per cent of this sum, the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS), 37 per cent, while Cable & Wireless Jamaica Limited and Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited (together known as Flow), and Dynamic Environmental Management Limited (DEML) shared the remaining 1 per cent.
The amount was reportedly applied as a credit to the affected customers’ utility accounts.
The remaining payout to customers, approximately $210m, resulted from breaches of the JPS and NWC Guaranteed Standards (GS).
According to the news release, JPS’s GS reports for 2023 indicate that it committed 89,187 breaches, a 30 per cent increase over 2022. Compensation associated with these breaches amounted to approximately $199m, all of which was paid out automatically to the affected customers’ accounts.
The NWC’s GS reports indicate that 8,229 breaches were committed throughout 2023, representing a 3 per cent decrease over 2022. Potential compensation for these breaches was $37m, of which only about $11M (30 per cent) was paid. The remaining 70 per cent of the GS compensation not paid included those for which the affected customers did not submit the required claim forms.
According to the release, unlike the JPS, where compensatory payments for most breaches are automatically applied to the affected customers’ accounts, NWC customers need to complete a claim form to be compensated for some breaches.
The data are contained in OUR’s latest Quarterly Performance Report for 2023 October to December, which can be found on its website: www.our.org.jm.