THE Guyana Telephone & Telegraph (GTT) Company which had, without prior notice to customers, or the watchdog Public Utilities Commission (PUC), stopped issuing hard copy bills to businesses and residential consumers, has been ordered to resume the service with effect from November 1, 2019.

Also, unless notified otherwise by consumers, GTT is mandated to dispatch to all business and residential consumers, paper bills which shall include the detailed Calling Party pay call tables and overseas call details.

The order issued by the PUC on October 11, 2019 and signed by Chairman, Dela Britton and Commissioners Rajkumar Bissessar, Verlyn Klass and Dr Leyland Klass, has its origin in a June 28, 2019 complaint which the PUC had received from Mr. Ramon Gaskin, a resident of 75 Dennis Street, Campbellville, Georgetown and landline customer of the telephone company.

The PUC, having forwarded the complaint from Gaskin to the telephone company, subsequently saw the need to conduct a public hearing on September 12, 2019 at the Ballet Room of Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown.

Gaskin, in writing, and subsequently in person at the hearing, had said that the format of his tax invoice for the month of May 2019 had been unilaterally changed by GTT without prior notification. As a consequence, the change resulted in the exclusion of the substantive billing information which had been contained in previous bills.

Gaskin further stated that, upon an enquiry with GTT, he was informed that the information omitted could be viewed online but that he had no access to online facilities and that GTT was, in effect, forcing him to seek such facilities. He also noted that he was not aware of the PUC approving the change of billing format.

The PUC, in its order, chided the GTT for not seeking to notify it of its intention to introduce the paperless facility and its failure to provide prior notification and failure to launch an effective educational campaign for the benefit of the public.

GTT was further instructed, by way of the order, that all consumers, who had received the new billing format issued from May 2019, be notified in their bills issued in November 2019, of the choice to opt out of paperless billing and such choice should be with immediate effect upon indication from the consumer. The option by the consumer to cancel online billings and resume paper billings should be clearly stated by GTT on its online portals.