Hatuey de Camps, president of the incumbent Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, denounced that the distributor companies are installing industrial counters when replacing old counters in residences. The industrial counters reportedly bill users at higher rates than the domestic counters. Consumers in the DR are said to be charged the highest electricity rates in the Western Hemisphere. The recent privatization has made matters worse. Yesterday, Superintendent of Electricity, Engineer Jose Ovalles Tejada and the administrator of the Dominican Electricity Corporation (the government entity that was split up to create the private power distributors), Engineer César Sánchez separately told Hoy newspaper that they would act to protect Dominican consumers. Power bill abuses are so widespread that Sánchez has complained about his own home bill, and Ovalles says he is besieged by his own friends. Ovalles said, "I cannot get around, or go to a restaurant without running into friends that before they greet me complain of their bills," he said. The recent string of abuses as the private generators seek to increase their revenues are the complaint of the day in the DR. Ovalles Tejada told Hoy newspaper that there is a plan on behalf of the distributors to increase their revenues, but he understands that these should be careful because "they cannot bet on the country being populated by Indians." Ovalles Tejada said, "I believe that there are serious problems in the billing and I have told the distributors this in a meeting with them. For me the distributors are betting on the ignorance of the people." Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce announced it would issue a ruling requiring companies to bill for no more than 31 days. By billing more than 31 days the companies are able to take advantage of the higher rate per kilowatt for more consumption. The Ministry also ruled that the companies could not charge more than 2.3% interest rate on arrears.
