Mary Onyia
Over 5million electricity consumers may be forcefully placed on estimated billing or face outright darkness over their refusal to upgrade their obsolete prepaid meters.
This is despite the directives given by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, recently to DisCos that no customer should be placed on estimated billing and that all obsolete meters must be replaced, if need be, at no cost to the consumers.
Consequently, affected consumers have called out on the federal government to act fast and protect them from the exploitative tendencies of the DisCos .
The Executive Director of the Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Princewill Okorie, reportedly expressed his displeasure over the number of consumers likely to be affected by the meter upgrade exercise, saying that it is ‘huge’, and called for quick intervention by the authorities.
Okorie accused the DisCos of using this strategy of meter replacement to frustrate electricity consumers and increase the number of those on estimated billing, adding that by this policy more than half of the current metered customers would lose their meters and join the over 7 million unmetered ones.
“So, this is an indirect way of putting Nigerians underestimation. And I know that, without a meter, whether you use light or not, they will give you a bill. There was a grid collapse for about five days; the moment light came, those unmetered consumers were made to pay as if there was an electricity supply for 24 hours. It is wickedness against the poor,” Okorie lamented.
Reacting to a statement last week attributed to some DisCos instructing their customers to pay for the replacement of their faulty meters, NERC said no metered customer should pay for a replacement meter or be forcefully migrated to estimated billing.
“The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is aware that some Distribution Companies have instructed customers to apply and pay for the replacement of faulty and obsolete meters within their franchise areas. This instruction contravenes the Commission’s Order No. NERC/246/2021 on the Structured Replacement of Faulty and Obsolete end-use Customer Meters in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” NERC said, stressing that any customers meter deemed to be faulty or obsolete must be replaced free of charge by the DisCos, provided the damage was not caused by the customer.
Recall that the FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, at a recent meeting held at the FCCPC headquarters in Abuja and was attended by representatives from the NERC, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency NEMSA, various electricity distribution companies and Unistar Hitech Systems Limited, criticised the DisCos for requesting upfront payment from consumers for meter replacement adding that it is in complete violation of the NERC Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations 2021.
He also noted that DisCos frequently places consumers with faulty meters on estimated billing, saying this is prohibited under NERC’s regulations.
Bello cited an example of a complaint received by FCCPC from an Ikeja Electric customer, who had expressed frustration at being asked to replace a functioning meter at a significant personal cost.
To prevent potential exploitation, FCCPC directed that all meter replacement processes be conducted transparently, with costs borne by the DisCos and not passed on to consumers.
Bello stressed that FCCPC would enforce strict compliance with these regulatory requirements to protect consumers from arbitrary charges and estimated billing.
The NERC’s Order mandates that DisCos must prioritise metering for unmetered customers under the National Mass Metering Programme and follow strict guidelines for replacing faulty or obsolete meters.
“Furthermore, DisCos are prohibited from placing customers on estimated billing due to delays in meter replacement, as new meters must be installed immediately upon removing any faulty or obsolete unit,” the FCCPC boss said.
However, it appears DisCos are not ready to comply as reports abound of electricity consumers with obsolete meters being forced to pay for replacement or be moved to estimate billing.
With additional reports from the Punch