…To storm FCCPC tribunal
Despite a 10-month old order by industry regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), abolishing estimated billing, electricity consumers under the Ikeja Disco franchise area have decried the outrageous bill slammed on them for the month of November.
The consumers in separate interviews with Daily Sun described the bills ranging from N23, 000 to N84, 000 as wicked, exploitative and an attempt to further weaken their purchasing power in the face of the current economic hardship.
This was even as Maximum Demand (MD), consumers especially those within the Kirikiri industrial area also called for investigation into their electricity bills, saying such was negatively impacting its already bloated cost of production.
Some of the industrial users within the cluster which is a service area covered by Eko Electricity Distribution Company said despite the poor level of electricity, they still get an average of over N700,000 per month.
‘‘Most of the time, we are out of supply. We only use the public supply during the day for our administrative operations which is just to power computers, air conditioners and a few office appliances. And when we are on supply, we cannot afford to be on public power supply for our heavy duty industrial machine because an abrupt outage could lead to severe damage of our equipment. So to be on the safe side, we rely on our generators mostly at night.
They, have, however called on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Federal Competitiveness Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) to launch an immediate investigation into the November electricity bill and other similar ones slammed on them by Ikeja Disco.
The consumers equally called on both agencies to carry out an immediate energy audit in conjunction with the Disco to determine their actually consumption.
One of the consumers who shared his bill with our correspondent, Mr. Isaac Osamoje, residing at No 8, Kolapo Boluwade Cresecent, Ifako, College Road and occupying a two bedroom flat, lamented the outrageous electricity bill of N83,224.35 for the month of November slammed on it.
Similarly, another consumer, residing at No 3, Ogunsola Street, New Oko Oba, Abule Egba, faulted his consumption of 233 units with a bill of N11,250.29, saying this does not in anyway reflect his consumption pattern.
He said the amount is a rip-off when compared to his consumption of 89 units for October, amounting to N2,085.72 and August bill of N2,577.
In the same vein, a furious Mr. Olumide Adesina, residing in a two bedroom flat at 18, Bolaji Taylor street in Ifako, Ogba area, decried the N59,521.73 bill as against N18,255.87 in August and N23,927.14, saying the bill does not justify his consumption as his community rotates electricity for two days on and one day off.
The situation in Agege was equally not different as the residence of late Colonel S.O Okusolubo at Sango Ijaiye Street was slammed with a bill of N62, 867.02 as against N22,187.68 for the month of October
However, it was a dramatic twist for residents of Grace of God and Moshood Ekun Community Development Association(CDA) in Matogun, one of the affected consumers, Mr. Dayo Olayinka, said all the residents within the Estate where allotted same consumption of 266 units, saying this appears strange as all houses could not have consumed the same quantum of energy.
For Olayinka, he said his bill was N13, 000 as against N3,000 in October, with a call on the relevant authorities to look into this outrageous billing system.
President, Electricity Consumer Rights Forum, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), at the forefront of consumer protection in the power sector, Mr.Austin Caulcrick, said Discos should be set for the worst showdown with consumers.
He said sensitization programme across the country was already ongoing in a bid to stage a nationwide protest to ground technical and commercial activities across the Discos.
Caulcrick lamented that the sector regulator-NERC appeared to have failed consumers as several petitions; protest letters to seek redress has yielded no result.
‘’I have it on good authority that several members of my NGO who have been receiving outrageous bills for over one year have written to NERC without getting redress. It appears the regulator is conniving with the Discos to shortchange consumers, and this we will resist.’’.
He said the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the last month’s electricity bill by Ikeja Disco which he described as wicked and an attempt to suffocate consumers.
The consumer activist said all of the complaints he has received, the consumer with the least bill for a two bedroom apartment was N40,000, saying the billing pattern of the Discos calls for an in-depth probe.
He disclosed that the planned protest will be a child’s play compared to EndSars because outrageous bill is a challenge that was confronting all consumers.
But a member of the FCCPC Tribunal, an agency recently created by the Federal Government to serve as an arbiter on all consumer abuse issues, Sola Salako-Ajulo, said the Tribunal is out to complement the efforts of FCCPC by adjudicating on all consumer abuse issue.
Speaking on the outrageous bill by Ikeja Disco, Salako-Ajulo, urged all consumers involved to follow the laid down procedure by following due process in order to get justice.
She said any consumer slammed with outrageous bill should start by writing to the Disco involved and wait for a response. But if after waiting, there is no response, such complaints should be escalated to NERC. If NERC fails to address it, such should be taken to FCCPC.
‘’After going through all these channels of communication which she said should be backed up by acknowledgments that must be duly stamped by the receiving organization and there is still no respite, then the consumer can approach the Tribunal whic3h is the final arbiter.’’
Salako-Ajulo, who is also the founder of Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, said consumers must be ready to be painstaking in order to get justice.
She assured that the era of consumer abuse was over in Nigeria as the FCCPC in conjunction with the Tribunal would do all it can to ensure that all issues of exploitation, consumer abuse and other related activities were tackled headlong.
The consumer affairs expert added that Nigerians should not just fold their arms and complain in the comfort of their homes without taken practical steps to address some of the exploitative acts of service providers, saying resigning to fate would not help the country to move forward.
She argued further that every electricity consumer who feel shortchanged by the system has the right to contest the bill and not pay for such if complaints have been registered with such service provider.
‘‘There is a NERC order that says when a consumer is dissatisfied with a bill, such person must write to contest that bill. And with a proof of acknowledgment , such a consumer is under the NERC rule spared, pending when the dispute is resolved. But such a consumer must continue to pay his or her last bill that is not in dispute, pending final resolution’’
But in all of these, the failure of the regulator to ensure strict compliance with its orders to the Discos remained a cause for concern for consumers.
Last February, NERC had directed the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) to stop further collection of electricity bill under the estimated billing system.
The suspension order which signed by NERC’s Chairman, Mr. James Momoh and Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Mr. Dafe Akpeneye, takes effect from February 20, and was circulated to all Discos concerned.
But 10 months after the directive, Daily Sun findings revealed that the NERC directive is of no effect as Discos have continued to slam consumers with outrageous bills.
NERC had directed further that based on the above, the estimated billing methodology is hereby repealed and shall cease to have effect as a basis for computing the consumption of unmetered customers in NESI.
‘‘Discos shall ensure that all customers on tariff class A1 in their franchise areas are properly identified and metered by 30 April 2020. While all unmetered RS and C1 customers shall not be invoiced for the consumption of energy beyond the cap stipulated in schedule 1 of this order.
All R1 customers, who by definition consume no more than 50 kilo watt hour (kWhr) of energy per month, shall continue to be billed at N4 kWhr and a maximum of N200 per month unless otherwise amended by an order of the commission.
