NERC to Nigerians: don’t pay for Damaged or Faulty Meters
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has warned and cautioned Nigerian
electricity consumers never to pay for any replacement or repair of faulty meters.
NERC, said it is the responsibility of the electricity distribution companies DisCos,
to repair, or replace faulty, or spoilt meters.
The NERC commission said in a statement on Monday 18th day of November 2024, that as long
as the meters where not in any way tempered with by the consumer.
Therefore then the replacement must be done by the electricity distribution company at a
no cost to the consumer.
The Data obtained from the NERC shows that as at the end of the second quarter of 2024,5.99 million,
which is 45 percent of 13,9 million consumers in the electricity industry has meters, while 7 million
customers are pushed to use estimated billing.
NERC said it “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.
“The Commission assures 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 Order which clearly states that no customer with a meter should be forcefully migrated to estimated billing.
If any customer’s meter is pronounced by any DisCo to be bad 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.