OUR secures $14m for aggrieved utilities customers in 9 months
Published:Wednesday | January 14, 2026 | 12:06 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), through its Consumer Affairs Unit, secured close to $14 million in refunds and credits for utility customers during the first nine months of 2025.
In a release on Monday, the OUR said it secured a total of $13,718,382.88 through its interventions.
“The sums would have arisen from the OUR taking on matters on behalf of customers who made complaints to us, and we would have acted on their behalf,” Elizabeth Bennett Marsh, public education specialist at the OUR, told The Gleaner.
In the latest OUR Quarterly Performance Report covering July to September 2025, some $3,130.407.89 was secured. This follows $6,276,245.90 in the January to March quarter and $4,311,729.09 in the second quarter (April to June).
Of the third-quarter amount, the OUR said the National Water Commission (NWC) accounted for the bulk, $2.3 million (72 per cent), and the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) approximately $431,000 (14 per cent). Digicel accounted for the remaining 14 per cent.
Approximately $833,000 of the third-quarter amounts, which were recorded during the reporting period, were applied to customers’ accounts by the service providers in previous periods.
The OUR said there is no prediction in terms of the amount that the entity is able to secure for customers. That is dependent on the nature of the complaints and how it is handled, and whether it is in favour of the customers or not.
The entity also reported significant guaranteed standards payouts during the quarter, with JPS and the NWC paying out over $58 million to customers for service breaches.
NO SERVICE STANDARDS IN PLACE
These are basic service standards to which NWC and JPS are bonded to; however, the OUR said there are none in place right now for the telecoms providers.
“If they breach them for any particular customer, then that customer is supposed to be compensated on their bill … . These issues range from, for example, if you get more than two consecutive estimated bills where they have access to your meter, or if it is that they wrongfully disconnect you, that is a breach of guaranteed standards.
[Also] if they meant to go to your neighbour but they came to you – even if they rightfully disconnect you,” Bennett Marsh said, adding that if they take long to reconnect the service after full payment – eight hours maximum for NWC and five hours for JPS – that is another breach.
JPS recorded 22,963 breaches, resulting in compensation of about $50.5 million, which was automatically credited to customers’ accounts.
The OUR said the breaches represents a one per cent increase over the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the NWC recorded just over 3,100 breaches, while potential payouts amounted to about $15.6 million.
The breaches represents a 13 per cent decrease over the preceding period.
Actual payments from NWC totalled $8.2 million as some customers (47 per cent) did not submit the required claim forms for compensation.
The OUR said that in the case of JPS, it has moved to convert all of the guaranteed standards to automatic compensation, with the exception of one. This means customers do not have to identify the breach then make a claim.
“As soon as it is identified, then JPS must automatically apply the credit to the affected customer’s bill without waiting for the customer to complete a claim form,” Bennett Marsh explained. “We have not moved yet to making NWC, all of them, automatic. Some of them are automatic.”
The third-quarter data showed a 22 per cent decline in the number of utility customers contacting the OUR during the July to September 2025 period, from 944 in the prior period to 734 contacts.
Billing matters remain the main reason utility consumers contact the OUR’s Consumer Affairs Unit.