The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has described the news milling round that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) are asking customers to apply and pay for the replacement of faulty and obsolete meters within their franchise areas as illegal and therefore should not be complied with.
The power industry regulatory commission in a Notice described such a call for payment by customers as illegal and advised any customer asked to pay for faulty or obsolete meter replacement to report to it for necessary regulatory action.
It restated its commitment to protect customers’ interests and rights by ensuring compliance with established regulatory standards and enforcing regulatory penalties for non-compliance by its licensees.
The NERC urged customers to report such cases of non-compliance to the Order by any DisCo, using its channels: 1.07000 CALL NERC (07000 2255 6372), 2.0201 344 4331, 3.0908 899 9244, Email: complaints@nerc.gov.ng, #NERC, #Meters, #DisCos and #ConsumerProtection
It clarified: “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.
“The Order clearly states that no customer with a meter should be forcefully migrated to estimated billing.
“If any customer’s meter is adjudged by any DisCo to be obsolete or faulty, it is the responsibility of the DisCo to replace the meter free of charge, provided that the fault was not caused by the customer.” NERC stated.
