I was a consumer advocate for many years, and I headed one of the early lobby groups in Jamaica called the Citizens' Initiative Organisation (CIO). Due to a lack of support, especially from those who were assisted, I decided to call it a day. Shortly after, I was asked to host a show called At Your Service on a radio station. My contract was terminated after serving for about 10 years, and I went to another station. That did not last for long, and I moved to another station.
When I did At Your Service, I had to deal with sometimes 5,000 complaints in a year, and I did it alone. I was able to record complaints in an Excel spreadsheet captured via text messages. I coded the complaints, sorted them, and sent lists of complaints to companies like JPSCo, NWC, Student's Loan Bureau, and others. The partnership worked well with these companies. I remember in one instance, I was able to track a delinquent beneficiary for the Students' Loan Bureau, and I got him to pay back nearly JAD.5 million. I also saved his father's house from being repossessed.
You will notice that many talk shows have become heavily biased towards dealing with consumer issues. That trend started when I did AYS, which at one time was aired from 0900 to 1200 EST on weekdays. The challenge is that media persons dealing with consumer issues are not familiar with consumer matters, and sometimes they mislead the public. I have decided to highlight this case of a lady who has been getting high JPS bills, and she complained to a media house. Click HERE to see the article in the Daily Gleaner dated September 22, 2025.
The OUR is a regulatory body and not the place to lodge normal consumer complaints. The Consumer Affairs Commission (formerly the Prices Commission) is responsible for dealing with consumer complaints. They have expert staff to deal with complaints, and they also have a tribunal that deals with major issues between consumers and those who supply goods and services.
If you owe an electricity bill and the deadline has passed, then JPS will disconnect your electricity supply if it cannot collect the funds due.
JPS will check their metre to ensure that their metre is in good working order if you complain about high electricity bills.
Consumers can also monitor their electricity usage by using the JPSCo application on their phone. Don't wait until the end of the month to find out you have an exorbitant bill.
If you suspect that your electricity is being stolen, get a licensed electrician to check if there is an illegal connection to your system. If there is an illegal connection, the matter should be reported to the police immediately. Stolen electricity is a police matter. The individual who is stealing the electricity is more than likely close to you, so it should not be difficult to identify the illegal connection and to see where it is coming from. The person or persons are stealing your electricity and not JPSCo's, and that is why this is reflected on your bill.
In the future, let the consumer have a talk with the CAC, and they will give the customer professional advice.
Editor's Note
I am a board commissioner at the CAC, I host a consumer radio programme, and I am the editor for this blog, which deals with consumer issues. I also work closely with the Consumers' League, the utility companies and the heads of various government and private sector organizations.
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You are ABSOLUTELY correct on this Mr. Derby. The CAC is there to assist us in solving our consumer problems. I have had to engage their services a few years ago dealing with NWC. I was kept abreast with communication sent and received by both entities and my problems was amicably resolved with my account being credited with J$13,000.00
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