Estimated billing an abuse, Competition and Consumer Commission tells Discos
LCompetition agos -- The Federal
and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has described estimated billing of electricity consumption by the power distribution companies in the country as an abuse.
Mr. Babatunde Irukera, the commission’s Chief Executive, disclosed this at the customers’ engagement town hall meeting organised by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC, in Lagos, calling for aggressive metering to curb estimated billings.
Irukera, at the event, also decried group disconnection of electricity consumers by the electricity distribution companies or Discos.
“Estimated billing is an abuse," he said, adding: "We used to have estimated billing in Nigeria before the Discos came on board, and it was not as contentious and discriminating as we have it now”.
The FCCPC chief urged Discos to follow the billing methodology as stipulated by law, which makes billing "rational and reasonable".
He said: “Discos should be responsive and sensitive in addressing consumers' complaints.
“I expected Eko Discos to build on its effective metering schemes to create transparency in addressing the estimated billings".
Speaking on disconnections, Irukera maintained that there was no acceptable combination of facts that would justify the group disconnection of electricity consumers where there were some of the consumers that might have paid their bills.
“There is absolutely no reasons for any distribution companies to disconnect consumers on the account of `group disconnection’, no matter what the case may be.
“We (FCCPC) will continue to push for the elimination of this unfriendly and aggressive attitudes of DisCos,” he said.
He explained that group disconnection of consumer’s electricity, without consideration for those paying their bills, is an abuse of consumers' rights.
Also speaking, Mr. Adeoye Fadeyibi, the Chief Executive Officer, EKEDC, said the company had improved tremendously on its customers' service delivery system.
Fadeyibi, represented by Mr. Joseph Ezenwa, the Chief Finance Officer of the company, said EKEDC has so far metered more than 150,000 customers.