The Energy Consumer Rights and Responsibility Initiative (ECRRI) has expressed disgust over the failure of the National Assembly to criminalise the issuance of estimated bills by electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to customers in Nigeria .
Its National President, Mr Surai Fadairo, said Nigeria’s metering gap would have been boosted if the lawmakers had criminalized the act
The Federal House of Representatives had in 2018, moved to prohibit the issuance of such bills to consumers across the country.
The bill would mandate DisCos to provide prepaid meters within a specified period.
Fadairo told journalists that the bill would have put an end to what Nigerians are facing today in the hands of the power distribution companies but unfortunately it did not scale through.
He added:“We believe that there is a need to revive the bill, especially as we are moving toward another election year with the reconstitution of a new national assembly.There is a need to stop the exploitation of Nigerians with outrageous bills and the best way to do that is to make it an offence to issue estimated bills to customers.”
He expressed his group’s readiness to work with the legislators to ensure that the estimated billing system was prohibited in Nigeria which would compel the DisCos to intensify efforts to meter customers.
He explained that the development has become imperative, especially with the implementation of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) for the DisCos as approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
He added:“The MYTO has been approved for the DisCos until 2025 which will see periodic reviews in tariffs to customers based on certain parameters.We believe the only way customers can be best served is for them to get metered to prevent further exploitation”
