By Ikenna Omeje
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has urged electricity customers denied opportunity of acquiring meters under the new regulatory framework, on account of outstanding estimated bills, to report their Distribution Company (DisCo) to the commission.
The commission said that it is committed to closing the metering gap in the country by eliminating the current practice of estimated billing, noting that there will soon be a cap on estimated billing.
This was contained in a statement the commission sent to Majorwaves on Thursday, which was signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Dr. Usman Abba- Arabi.
The statement reads in part: “… the attention of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has been drawn to the practice of some electricity distribution companies insisting on the payment of all outstanding electricity debts as precondition for the acquisition of electricity meters under the Meter Asset Provider Regulation.
“The Commission is committed to expediting a closure of the metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry thus eliminating the current unwarranted practice of “estimated billing”. In response to customer complaints about the issuance of estimated electricity bills and pending the installation of the estimated over 5m units of meters, the Commission shall soon prescribe a cap representing the maximum amount that a DisCo may charge an unmetered customer.
“In pursuit of realising the main objective of the Meter Asset Provider Regulations, the Commission hereby requests customers denied the opportunity of acquiring meters under the new regulatory framework on account of outstanding estimated bills should contact the Commission by sending an email with full details of the circumstances.”
The commission also asked electricity customers to report DisCos that force them “to invest in the replacement of distribution infrastructure such as transformers, cables, etc as a condition for the restoration of electricity supply.”
On the current practice by some DisCos removing meters from customer premises under the guise that the electricity regulator directed that all meters that have been in use for more than 10 year’s should be “phased out”, the commission said it didn’t emanate from NERC.
“The Commission has issued no such directive to the licensees and no metered customer should be transferred to “estimated billing” on the premise that meters in use for more than 10 years are dysfunctional. All licensees must henceforth adhere to the PART III, SECTION 3.5.2 of the Metering Code which states that “if a metering system fault occurs, the Distributor shall provide urgent metering services to repair or replace the metering system as soon as it is practicable and in any event within two working days of the Distributor discovering that the fault exists”, the statement added.
