By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Wrong disconnection by power distribution companies (DisCos) will attract fine from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) if the law it is drafting is passed by the National Assembly (NASS).
DisCos lost N58 billion in unpaid bills in the second quarter of 2020 (Q2 2020) largely because some customers refused to pay bloated estimated bills or those who wanted to pay did not have the money.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari has since 2020 prioritised the installation of prepaid power meters nationwide – which means both ‘pay as you use’ and ‘if you don’t pay, you won’t have electricity.
Customers now pay upfront so as to have power and, in turn, Discos themselves strive to ensure a fairly predictable supply or else they would not generate revenue.
NERC Chairman Sanusi Garba disclosed that the fine for the wrong disconnection would range from N1,000 for residential buildings N1,500 for commercial and N2,000 for industrial.
Energy cap
“A DisCo which disconnects a customer supply in violation of these regulators shall compensate the customer on the equivalent of 100 per cent daily energy cap for every day the wrongful disconnection lasts.
“This shall be determined based on the previous month bill or consumption,” Garba said, reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“In the event of a property left unoccupied for a period of time following the exit of the occupant, a new occupant of premises should contact the DisCo on their first day of moving into the premises, which the DisCo should take into consideration for billing such customers.”
When a DisCo overcharges a customer, it should advise the customer in writing within five days of becoming aware of the error and also repay the amount by crediting the exact amount of the overcharge to the customers’ next bill.
“On the other hand, NERC has proposed that, in the case of undercharging from incorrect billing, the DisCos may establish the undercharge and recover the amount for not less than three months.”
Meter replacement
On replacement of faulty or obsolete meter, NERC said “a meter shall be considered faulty and not in compliance with the Distribution Metering Code if it is determined that any part on that metering system does not comply with the code.”
The NERC also proposes that any customer that needs connection to a building is responsible for any accumulated connection charges required by the DisCo as approved by the NERC.
“While the distribution licensee shall be responsible for the connection to the customer’s metering point, the distribution licensee shall, within 48 hours of the provision of the requisite materials in the right quantity and quality by the customer, effect connection of supply to the customer’s residence or premises.”
Nairametrics reported in July that the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) disclosed that only 25 of the 160 GenCos licensed by the NERC are currently operating.