Nigerians who are not provided with prepaid meters have been ordered to stop paying for electricity bills by the NERC.
Electricity billing (File photo)
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reminded
electricity consumers not provided with prepared meters by March 1 to
stop paying electric bills presented by Distribution Companies (DISCOs)
on the basis of estimated billing methodology.
The commission also ordered the DISCOs not to disconnect any such
customer that refuses to pay the bills and further advised such
customers to report to the commission if disconnected.
NERC gave the directive on Wednesday in a statement on its website
and said it was part of its sanctioning of defaulting DISCOs who failed
to provide meters for its customers before the March 1 deadline.
In line with its mandate of protecting the rights of customers,
NERC had in June 2016 after consultation with the operators, directed
DISCOs to conclude metering of all customers before November 30, 2016.
According to NERC, the commission at the expiration of that notice,
granted three months moratorium which expired on March 1, to enable the
DISCOs effectively execute the metering deployment plan for MD (maximum
demand) customers.
According to the statement, the sanction was sequel to the
expiration of the initial directives by NERC and the moratorium period
given to DISCOs to meter consumers.
The statement reads in part:
“A directive was issued to distribution companies by the
Commission in June 2016 for all MD customers to be metered by 30
November 2016.
“The Commission received appeals on compliance deadline from
distribution companies prior to the expiration of the 30 November 2016
deadline. The deadline was extended to 1 March 2017 after consideration
of appeals received from distribution companies.
“Upon due consideration of facts above and the expiration of
the compliance deadline granted to distribution companies on the
metering of MD customers; the Commission hereby directs as follows –
“1. Any MD customer that was not metered by 1 March 2017
shall not pay any electricity bill presented by a distribution company
on the basis of estimated billing methodology and these customers are
advised to report this to the Commission.
“2. No distribution company shall disconnect any MD customer
that was not metered by 1 March 2017 on the basis of the customer’s
refusal to pay a bill issued after the compliance deadline on the basis
of estimated billing methodology.
“3. Any MD customer that was not metered by 1 March 2017 should notify the Commission directly.”
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