The board members of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are challenging a GH₵5.8 million fine imposed by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) due to alleged inconsistencies in the company’s load-management schedule.
Their legal representatives argue that the PURC overreached its authority by penalizing the board members instead of the company itself. They maintain that the Commission’s legal mandate only extends to imposing fines on ECG as a public utility, rather than on its board members.
The PURC defended the fine by highlighting the board’s duty to provide strategic oversight for quality service delivery. However, the board members’ lawyers assert that this responsibility does not involve direct day-to-day operations, which are the domain of the principal officer under the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act. They argue that only principal officers can be held personally liable under the Act.
Rejecting the fine and its implications, the ECG board members, through their legal team, are adamant that the PURC’s actions were beyond its legal jurisdiction and lacked proper authority. This stance sets the stage for a potential legal dispute over the appropriate application of regulatory oversight in the case.
Statement by the Lawyers of the Board Members: PURC and ECG Brouhaha
It is patently clear that under the said provision, the Commission can only impose a regulatory charge on a public utility. The Commission does not have the power/authority to purport to impose any regulatory charge on officers of the public utility. The Commission in purporting to impose the said regulatory charges on the Board Members of ECG clearly exceeded their jurisdiction as it is not within their powers/authority to do so.
As stated above, under Section 38 of Act 538 a default on the part of a public utility in the payment of a penalty may lead to the personal liability of a principal officer of the public utility. Under Section 49 of Act 538 a principal officer means the person responsible for the day-to-day administration of the affairs of the public utility.
Board members of ECG are not responsible for the day-to-day administration of ECG and, therefore, are not principal officers within the intendment of Act 538 to be able to be held liable for a default on the part of the public utility ECG.
The Commission’s Order imposing regulatory charges on the members of the Boards is unlawful, null and void as same is without jurisdiction. By this Order, the Commission has unlawfully clothed itself with the powers of the High Court, and imposed a sentence on the Board Members, without having been given the opportunity to be heard which amounts to a breach of the rules of natural justice. Our clients, therefore, reject the contents of the regulatory order relative to any personal liability on their part.
