A Ghana rental with a prepaid meter in the landlord’s name is normal. STS does not care who sleeps in the room. It cares which ~eleven-digit number you vended and whether you can touch the keypad or CIU. Tenants get surprised by four things: they cannot enter a token because the CIU is in a locked room; they vend the compound meter instead of a promised “private” box; they leave unused tokens behind at move-out; they double-pay because the landlord also tapped ECG PowerApp the same night.
Buy credit on ECG PowerApp if the landlord shares access (usually a bad idea), on *226#, at a vendor, or on the everyday path *714*22# / ewalepay.com without needing the landlord’s login. This blog does not process payments. Tokens are sold by ECG channels and licensed checkouts such as ECG PowerApp, *226#, vendors, and Ewale (*714*22# or ewalepay.com). The risks below are tenancy and STS, not an app war.
Access to the keypad is part of the rent
If you cannot reach the CIU at 11pm, you cannot complete prepaid. Put CIU access in the agreement: corridor, not the landlord’s bedroom. A token SMS from *714*22# is useless against a padlock. PowerApp remote-load stories still fail in the field; assume you must type twenty digits.
If the landlord “loads it for you” in exchange for cash, you have no STS artefact, no last-token proof, and a dispute waiting. Prefer paying a checkout yourself so the SMS names the meter.
Registered name is not your nickname
The confirm screen on *226# or *714*22# will show the registered customer, often the landlord or a previous owner. That is correct if the meter number matches your plate. It is a stop sign if the name is the shop downstairs. Tenants who type a number from a faded lease annex load someone else’s house. Wrong vends are generally not redirectable.
Photograph plate and CIU the week you move in. Save the number on your phone. Do not rely on the landlord forwarding a 2021 image.
Move-out and unused tokens
Unused twenty-digit strings in your SMS are still bound to that meter. If you have already left and cannot enter them, you are funding the next occupant. Enter unused tokens before you hand over keys. Used energy in remaining kWh is also a gift unless you negotiated a readout. Last-token display can settle arguments if everyone is still civil.
Do not ask ECG to “move” leftover units to your new house. STS identity stays with the metal.
Landlord vending at the same time as you
If both of you treat low units as a personal emergency, you will create two tokens and an Old leftover. Group chat: “I am buying now.” One debit. Preferred tenant tool: *714*22# on the tenant’s MoMo so the landlord’s PowerApp wallet is not the only pipe — and so OTP for the landlord’s phone is irrelevant when they are in the village.
Sharing PowerApp login with a tenant is how the tenant sees other properties and how refunds go missing. Share the meter number, not the account.
Tamper, seals, and “I’ll fix it”
Tenants must not open meter seals, even if the landlord asks. Tamper flags become ECG visits and sometimes disconnection. CRC on NURI is a Display-until-Relay then 0302 611 611 upgrade story. CLOU may need an ECG upgrade token. Neither is a DIY screwdriver job. Landlords who want cash for “upgrade” should be pointed at ECG’s free STS upgrade messaging, not a compound technician’s MoMo.
Deposits, leftover kWh, and receipts at handover
Prepaid remaining units are not a bank. At move-in, photograph remaining kWh and last token so you are not paying for the previous occupant’s leftover and being accused of stealing it later. At move-out, photograph again. Unused twenty-digit SMS still in your phone should be entered while you still have CIU access. Cash deposits with the landlord are a tenancy issue; they are not STS. Mixing “I paid GH₵200 light into the deposit” without a token SMS is how money disappears.
If the landlord insists all vending goes through their PowerApp, you have no independent artefact when they claim they loaded. Push for *714*22# on the tenant’s MoMo, SMS into a shared chat, and the tenant or a trusted person at the CIU. Official *226# is the same idea: the tenant’s SIM receives ECG’s own message. The registered name can remain the landlord’s. Identity of the tank and identity of the wallet are different.
Eviction-week lockouts of the CIU while unused tokens sit in the tenant’s SMS is a predictable theft of energy. Enter tokens before confrontations. If you are locked out, do not vend more. Do not break the door. Unused STS will not teleport to a new house.
FAQ
Should the tenant’s name be on the meter?
Nice if ECG will process a change. Not required for prepaid vending. Correct number plus CIU access is required.
Landlord wants me to pay postpaid on their account.
That is a different product. A prepaid keypad will not clear a postpaid bill. Do not mix flows.
Can I refuse to buy if others use the meter?
Socially yes, electrically no — empty units cut everyone. Negotiate or demand a separate meter from ECG / the landlord.
If it still fails
- Paid the landlord’s personal MoMo as “ECG”: That is rent-shaped cash, not a token. Demand an STS SMS or vend yourself on *714*22#.
- Entered token on the house CIU next door: Gift. Unlikely to reverse.
- Left unused token at move-out: Enter it before keys, or accept the gift.
Tenants need the number, the CIU, and one calm checkout. *714*22# does not need the landlord’s PowerApp. *226# remains ECG’s own USSD. Type twenty digits into this house’s box before you argue about whose name is registered.