An audit of the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) revenue collection has uncovered a GH₵490 million discrepancy in reported revenue between October and December 2023.
The discrepancy involves both tariff and non-tariff revenue.
According to a report shared by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), the variance was identified between the regional bank accounts and ECG’s head office account.
The audit report stated: “Between October and December 2023, ECG reported revenue of GH₵3.38 billion.
However, based on information from the head office bank accounts analysed, the recorded revenue was GH₵3.87 billion.”
Further investigations revealed that the unaccounted funds resulted from the transfer of all funds from district and regional accounts to the 14 head office accounts at the end of each month.
This transfer process led to the GH₵490 million discrepancy between the figures reported by ECG and those found in the audit analysis.
The analysis was conducted by reviewing and analysing relevant bank accounts used by ECG for operations, including revenue collection and disbursements.
To address future discrepancies, the auditors recommended several corrective measures, such as: implementing debit notes for fuel purchases, strengthening internal reconciliation mechanisms, utilising revenue data from the ECG Cash Settlement Platform (ECSP) vendor, reevaluating the approach to the Single Collection Account and establishing a robust monitoring system for fund allocation.
These measures aim to enhance transparency and ensure accurate financial reporting in ECG’s operations.
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