Communicating with Consumers:
Case Study of the Office of Utilities Regulation (Jamaica)

By David Geddes
Director of Consumer and Public Affairs
OUR-Jamaica

About the Author...

David Geddes is the Director of Consumer and Public Affairs at the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) in Jamaica and a final year MBA student. He is a former journalist and a trained marketer. He has worked with the OUR since 2001 and before that spent just under 20 years working with various radio and television stations in Jamaica. In his current post David is in charge of organizing stakeholder consultations, public education, public relations, advertising and managing the utility customers' complaints process.

Abstract

The following article outlines some of the methods that can be employed when designing a public education campaign on regulatory issues, and how such campaigns can affect stakeholder involvement and public participation in the regulatory process. It concludes that public consultations can yield invaluable information and feedback regarding service standards for utility companies and insights into the quality of service consumers are receiving. The article also identifies the ways in which OUR stakeholders have been encouraged to provide specific feedback on the Consultative Documents released by the regulator.

I. Introduction

Jamaica occupies approximately 1,144 square miles and has a population of roughly 2.5 million people of mainly African descent. Nonetheless, as indicated by our national motto "Out of Many, One People" there are other significant lines of descent, including Chinese and Indian.

The OUR was established following the promulgation of the Office of Utilities Regulation Act of 1995 (the Act can be found at: http://www.our.org.jm/pdf/ouract1995.pdf). OUR is charged with regulating the supply and distribution of electricity; the provision of telecommunications services; the provision of public passenger transport by road, rail or ferry; supply and distribution of water; and the provision of sewerage services.

In 2002, just over half the population of Jamaica were aware of the OUR as an organization. At that time, senior management of the OUR felt that on a small island country such as Jamaica, this level of awareness was much too low. We therefore crafted an aggressive public education campaign while simultaneously intensifying our consultation process as mandated by law.

Utilizing the services of national and regional media companies as well as the government's information agency (Jamaica Information Service- JIS), a public education campaign was designed. Today, in 2005, the OUR is a household name and our public consultations yield invaluable contributions regarding service standards for utility companies and insights into the quality of service consumers are receiving.

II. Public Education Strategies for the OUR

The OUR's public education goals were met using a variety of stakeholder awareness, consultation strategies, and print media campaigns. These are described in more detail below:

A. Communicating with Consumers: Town Meeting Style

Working alongside the JIS, the OUR liaised with community leaders across the length and breadth of Jamaica and arranged for them to host speakers from the agency on weekday evenings, usually beginning at 6:30 outdoors in the main town square. Before the meetings, a vehicle with a public address system would drive slowly through the community and its surrounding environs announcing the meeting. After a brief welcome, a movie would be shown to keep the interest of the residents

Typical "question and answer" format for OUR's Town Meetings

During the intermission, the OUR representative would speak about the role of the agency and how it provides an avenue of appeal for consumers of utility services. OUR representatives would hand out brochures outlining the role and function of the OUR, and distribute stickers with the agency's toll free numbers. A short documentary on the OUR is also shown, and questions entertained, after which the movie would resume.

The purpose of this approach was to "get out in the community" and be able to meet face-to-face with our consumers.

B. Print Campaigns

Three print media campaigns were put into place by the OUR as part of this awareness raising effort. First, a series of posters were conceptualized, printed, and distributed to Jamaica's post offices for display (over four hundred). In addition, numerous other private business places were encouraged to display the posters as a public service. These posters spoke directly to the consumers informing them about the OUR and the Guaranteed Standards (these standards are embodied in a service delivery agreement between the OUR and each utility), introduced for utility companies. These standards are the minimum level of service expected from the utility companies and the penalty to be paid to the consumer if they are breached. Stickers with similar information were also designed, distributed, and displayed in business places.

Second, a four page brochure titled "Having a Problem With a Utility Company?" was published and copies distributed to post offices, private and public medical offices, places of entertainment, supermarkets and other establishments with high consumer traffic. We also identified key "high consumer traffic" locations, such as bill payment centers and Inland Revenue Departments (tax offices) to place stacks of brochures for distribution.

Third, we identified the newspapers as a key source for information distribution. Supplements (inserts) for the newspapers were developed with articles from OUR staff members on different functions of the agency including that of Numbering Administrator (responsible for allocating telephone numbers within Jamaica's area code 876).

C. Ask the OUR: Radio Broadcasting

Listening to the radio is a very popular activity in Jamaica. As such, we developed a series of five minute recorded radio programs in which questions articulated by consumers are presented by the radio host and answered by OUR staff. Currently, Ask the OUR is aired on five national radio stations and will soon be aired on a regional radio station broadcasting primarily to inner city communities in Jamaica's capital city Kingston. The questions are obtained either from recordings of public meetings or from letters sent to Ask the OUR. The program also promotes the Guaranteed Standards urging consumers to hold the utility companies accountable for the level of service provided.

D. TV Media

Apart from advertising on radio and in newspapers, a special poster was developed for talk show studios, so that program hosts would have readily available information on the role of the utility regulator (and how to contact OUR) that they could pass on to their viewers. Consumers are also advised that mail-in complaint forms are available at post offices and that these do not require a stamp; all the consumer has to do is complete the form and leave it at the post office.

E. Monthly Public Relations Events

On an almost monthly basis, the OUR sets up a booth at various events across the island, including national agricultural and industrial fairs. OUR personnel from the Consumer Relations Unit (complaints handling), which is part of the Consumer and Public Affairs Department, participate in these events. OUR personnel not only give out information and answer queries but also capture complaints against utility companies for investigation.

III. Conclusion

Having used its public education campaign to establish a platform of recognition for the OUR, the agency has now rolled out its consultation program. This has included public forums dealing with tariff review applications from the national light and power company (Jamaica Public Service Company-JPS) and the National Water Commission (NWC) responsible for both water provision and sewerage services. The consultations have also addressed quality of service standards for the utility companies.

In fact, as part of the new tariff for JPS introduced in June 2004, five new quality of service standards were introduced on the basis of consumer feedback. For example, consultations revealed a strong sense of distrust in the meter reading activities of utility companies and an even stronger distaste for estimated bills. Consequently, OUR, by way of the Guaranteed Standards, has restricted the number of estimated bills that the NWC and the JPS can issue per year, and has set out the method by which utility bills can be estimated (by calculating the average daily consumption using the last three actual readings of the consumers meter).

Fourteen public forums, one in each parish, were held for the JPS Tariff Review last year while in 2003 four forums were organized for the NWC Tariff Review. There were also forums on universal access in telecommunications.

With the recognition of the OUR and the role it has to play, consumers are now participating more fully in consultations, attending forums, sending in submissions on various Consultative Documents and getting more proactive in standing up for their rights when doing business with Jamaica's utility companies. Consequently there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of persons contacting the OUR because of problems with the utility companies. In calendar year 2004, this number totaled just under four thousand, up from under one thousand in the first year of our operations. This increased public participation has allowed OUR to be more effective and efficient in working with the utilities in Jamaica to improve the delivery of the services that they provide to consumers.

For more information, please contact David Geddes at dgeddes@our.org.jm

Copyright ©2005 Institute for Public-Private Partnerships, Inc. All rights reserved