Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC)has ordered all the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies(DIsCOs) in Nigeria to suspend the proposed increase in tariffs of end-use customers earlier scheduled to take effect from April 1, 2020.
According to Order. No. NERC/198/2020 Signed by the Commission’s Chairman, James A. Momoh and Legal Licensing and Compliance, Dafe C. Akponeye, the Commission stated, “There shall be no increase in tariffs of end-use customers on 1 April, 2020”.
The Commission noted that the end-use customers of the 11 DisCos are willing to pay appropriate rates for services rendered by the DisCos, but this willingness is conditioned on guaranteed hours of service, quality of power and adequate metering; and not on improvement promises that characterised previous reviews.
The Commission pointed out that the wide metering gap in NESI, currently at about 60 per cent, is a major impediment to both an immediate tariff review and revenue protection for DisCos.
The report point out that the DisCos customers are dissatisfied with the quality of service provided by DisCos as well as unhappy on the discriminate estimated billing, which is considered as a means of ripping them of their hard earned money.
