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Power: NERC to stop 11 Discos’ profiteering tendencies

By on November 9, 2015

In a new regulatory order that would clearly affect the financial intakes of the 11 electricity distribution companies (discos) in Nigeria’s electricity market, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Sunday disclosed its decision to exempt consumers from paying for electricity they consumed in a month through the estimated billing method.

NERC said in Abuja that it decided to introduce the new order following its approval by its commissioners at its last regulatory meeting.

It explained that under the new order, none of the 11 discos will henceforth be allowed to bill consumers who had applied and paid to be metered under the Cash Advance Payment for Metering Initiative (CAPMI) but are yet to be metered after two weeks of the required 45 days installation period.

The commission said that its decision was derived from repeated failure of the Discos to abide by the guidelines of the CAPMI scheme as well as its resultant outcomes which include frequent complaints of Discos’ non-compliance by many customers who subscribed to CAPMI scheme but were yet to be metered within 45 days.

It also noted the displeasure of its commissioners with the rising incidence of Discos’ abuse of extant conditions in its approved estimated billing methodology, and which it now hopes to curtail.

Notwithstanding, anecdotal reports indicate that revenues accrued to the Discos from estimated billing to consumers have always contributed some good percentage to their overall earnings.

 

[ThisDay]