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For immediate release
8 November 2004
Electricity Complaints Commission starts scheme review
Electricity consumers who have contacted
the office of the Electricity Complaints Commissioner are
being surveyed for an independent review of the performance
and effectiveness of the dispute resolution scheme.
About 900 customers who dealt with the office
between January and September this year were posted a survey
last week. It is a simple tick-the-box questionnaire with
a reply-paid envelope and should take about 15 minutes to
complete.
A national phone survey of randomly selected
households throughout New Zealand will measure awareness of
the office of the Electricity Complaints Commissioner as part
of the review.
The Rules of the Electricity Complaints Commission
require that an independent review of the scheme be done three
years after its adoption and a Wellington-based consultancy
firm,
PS…Services, won the tender to complete the
review. PS…Services will also survey electricity lines and
retail companies that are members of the scheme, council board
and commission members, the commissioner and office staff,
and other key stakeholders.
Commission chair Alison Paterson says the
review will assess how well the scheme is operating and whether
the scheme is complying with its constitutional requirements.
"The Australian Benchmarks for Industry-Based
Customer Dispute Resolution Schemes (1997) provides the basis
for measuring performance with regard to best practice," she
says.
"The required outcome is a report that provides
feedback about how the scheme should evolve to change or improve
its operations. The report will be publicly available via
the office of the commissioner's website (www.electricitycomplaints.co.nz)."
The scheme review is required by the commission
which audits the scheme and monitors the rules. Paterson is
the independent chair of the commission, which is made up
of two consumer representatives and two industry representatives.
The council board provides industry oversight of the scheme
and makes appointments to the commission.
"The review report will also be used to support
the scheme's application to the Electricity Commission for
approval as a complaints resolution scheme under the new electricity
and gas industries' legislation. The benchmarks used for the
review are specifically mentioned in the Government Policy
Statement as one of the key features of a complaints resolution
system," Paterson says.
Benchmarks include accessibility, independence,
fairness, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness. The
review will also look at whether the scope of the scheme is
appropriate and the effectiveness of the Terms of Reference.
The final review report is due on 1 March
2005.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Josie Vidal
Publicity/Communications Officer
Electricity Complaints Commission
(04) 914 4526 0274 757 305
e-mail: j.vidal@electricitycomplaints.co.nz
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