By Favour Nnabugwu,

ABUJA — The Consumer  Protection Council, CPC, and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, have resolved to enforce the mandatory 60-day order to electricity distribution companies, DISCOs, to either metre or stop billing consumers under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) scheme.

The two agencies at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the headquarters of CPC in Abuja, yesterday, agreed to collaborate to enforce the implementation of the order and other steps that would ensure conducive environment for consumers and investors in the sector.

The Director General of CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, had condemned the seeming foot-dragging of DISCOs in metering consumers as outlined in their performance agreements with the government and yet had been committed in billing millions of consumers through estimated billings.

Atoki admitted that though the problem of metering in the country was deep-rooted, consumers should not be made to bear the brunt for so long without an end in sight, stressing that “consumers who are paying for services that they have not fully enjoyed need protection.”

She said: “If consumers at the end don’t get the required supply of electricity and their funds are being used to support the infrastructure deficiency, then we wonder how that can rest well with us.”

Earlier, acting Chairman of NERC, Dr. Anthony Akah, said the collaboration with the CPC, which is statutorily empowered to deal with all issues relating to consumers of goods and services in Nigeria, was a step in the right direction.

Akah hinted that NERC was determined to intensify enforcement of consumer protection regulations on metering, billing and the perennial complaints of estimated customers.

“There shall be concerted efforts aimed at greatly reducing the incidence of estimated billing and eventually eliminating them completely.

‘’The increasing incident of vandalisation of electricity infrastructure, stealing of electricity, hostility to operators are also issues we hope to jointly address,” he said.

He also pointed out that his commission would ensure strict adherence to the meter roll-out plan of DISCOs as enunciated in their performance agreements.

He also reiterated NERC’s non-tolerance statement on wrongful estimates, compelling customers to buy, install and repair transformers, poles, unsafe electrical connections and other unsafe practices and will monitor strict compliance.

“The commission is convinced that by this collaboration with the Consumer Protection Council and a robust enforcement drive by the commission, the Nigerian electricity Supply industry will operate in conducive environment for both investors and the consumers,” he added.

NERC had, in its recent directive to the nation’s electricity distribution companies, ordered that customer who elected to procure meters under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation, CAPMI, must be metered within 60 days.

According to him, the failure to do so will result in electricity customer not being billed or disconnected by the electricity distribution company.

“It will, therefore, not be fair for consumers to continue to pay for metres when the metres are not installed at the prescribed period and they are being charged arbitrarily.

“I believe NERC has come up with a very sound directive that all consumers who have paid for metres should not be disconnected or billed if the metres have not been provided,” he said.