By Shile GIWA
Efforts to address the high rate of estimated bills may have received the needed attention as Ikeja Electric has announced the setting up a “Bill Dispute Resolution Panel” (BDRP) across its undertaking offices to help expedite cases of disputed bills.
A statement by the Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofolue, disclosed that,the panel, which comprises selected staff with expertise in the business operations and customer services, will meet with customers, once every month across its six Business Units to resolve persistent complaints arising from estimated billing.
The panel, he said, will equally be empowered to resolve these cases expeditiously relying on company processes and regulatory requirements.
Ofulue, added that, the idea of setting up the BDRP is to quickly and amicably resolve lingering service issues raised by customers
“In a service industry like the power sector, disputes occurring as a result of dissatisfaction from a customer are inevitable. However, if inadequately managed, disputes can be bad for business and even go as far as negatively impacting on the customer’s loyalty and business brand respectively. So, we understand that fact and we are doing the best within our control to manage our customer’s expectations”
In line with our business objectives, we seek to be the provider of choice. Our customers need to be satisfied for us to be in business. The BDRP also enables customers plan their visits according to their itinerary since the panel sits for resolution once every month. This initiative is in addition to the daily attendance to customer complaints through the Customer Service channels and the IE offices across the network” he said.
He also pointed out that In addition to the newly introduced initiative, the company also recently launched the E-billing of Maximum Demand customers, a paperless and seamless billing technology aimed at providing MD customers easier option of receiving their monthly bills via sms, email and subsequently the use of USSD and IE Website”.
