Durrant Pate/ Contributor

The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) and the National Water Commission (NWC) will waive the customer/service charge on the bills of customers who have been without service since Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Tuesday, October 28.

The decisions emerged from the Office of Utilities Regulation’s (OUR) ongoing dialogue and correspondence sent to both utilities as early as the week following the hurricane regarding the treatment of bills, especially for customers in the hardest-hit areas. The OUR’s letters queried whether customers without service for an entire or multiple billing cycles will be billed and required to continue paying the monthly customer/service charge.

In its response, the NWC indicated that it will cease billing in the worst-affected service areas starting this month. Therefore, no service charge will apply. As such, the December bill would have reflected November’s consumption. NWC indicates that this suspension will remain effective ‘as long as the conditions that limit service delivery persist.’

JPS, in a follow-up response to the OUR on December 3, indicated that ‘customers who are out of supply for a full billing period or longer will not be required to pay the customer charge’. However, although customers without service will not be required to pay a customer charge, they will receive a bill showing zero consumption, along with any outstanding arrears, where applicable.

The OUR welcomes these decisions and will continue to work with the utilities to ensure fair billing for customers.