The new regulation of the state electricity company ENSA has sparked the fury of thousands of users who feel that the utility company operates as a parallel power, allowing low-level employees to decide who has electricity and who is left in the dark.
Lawyer José Antonio Moncada denounced that the regulation opens the door for these employees to remove or modify meters even when the customer is fully up to date on payments.
"In Panama, even if you pay on time, you can still be left without electricity because a low-level employee decides that you are not the owner, even though the contract is in your name," said the lawyer.
According to Moncada, the disorder is evident in agencies such as those in Villa de las Fuentes, where he claims meters are being removed without prior notice and without the possibility of immediate defense.
"This is not a poorly handled procedure: it is economic persecution," he stated.
"It is a white-collar crime disguised as a regulation."
Moncada announced that he will continue to publicly denounce these situations and is preparing formal actions to stop what he considers "one of the most dangerous and brazen abuses" against the population.
"This will not change until those who abuse the power delegated to them by the company are exemplary punished," he emphasized.
The lawyer also warned that these practices reflect a serious deterioration in state oversight of concessionaires.
"In Panama, there is no order, no respect for the law. When they take a meter that is in your name without justifying it, they are attacking your property," he concluded.
"They turn the affected person into a criminal victim, with the right to sanctions, dismissals, and indemnifications," stated the lawyer.
