Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has begun educating electricity consumers and customers of electricity distribution companies about their rights to quality services and their corresponding obligations.
NERC Commissioner Consumer Affairs, Mrs. Aisha Mahmud, at a townhall and complaints resolution meeting for customers of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company in Lokoja, said the regulatory agency also monitors customer’s complaints for peaceful resolution.
Mahmud explained that said NERC issued the Customer Protection Regulations which sets the minimum standards that Distribution Companies, DisCos are expected to attain in protecting customers.
She said, “One of the main reasons we are here is to educate you on what you should know about the electricity industry.
“As consumers, you should know that when you pay for electricity, you are not just paying for electricity, but rather, you’re paying for services as well. So, you should always insist you know what services you are being given and what your rights and obligations are,” NERC told the consumers.
AEDC Chief Business Officer, Kogi Zone, Mr. Olaseni Agunpopo, assured to personally monitoring the complaint resolution process in the state to ensure improvement in customer engagement and service delivery.
NERC Assistant General Manager, Consumer Affairs, Mrs. Regina Osuagwu, coordinated an interactive session that provided the avenue to respond to critical observations from the participants.
Osuagwu assured that the NERC Lokoja Forum Office was active where customers who are not satisfied with complaints resolved by AEDC can escalate them and have the forum members hear the appeals.
Over 300 customers of the AEDC submitted their complaints at meeting, which were been handled on the spot by a team of AEDC officials, as NERC officers monitor the process.
Among the AEDC customers that were attended to was Alhaji Abubakar Akowe who submitted a complaint on behalf of Jama’atul Nasril Islam on their application for a prepaid meter since April 2023.
“In the NERC evaluation form, I commended NERC for helping to resolve this issue because I have been assured that a meter has been assigned and will be installed today,” he said.
Another customer, Honourable Ocheni Matthew, a landlord said he had filed a complaint to AEDC since 2022 about a meter bypass in his property which he was told to pay a N500,000 fine.
“I contested the penalty because we suspected that the bypass was done in collusion with AEDC officials by my tenant who had died thereafter.”
Ocheni said after another meeting, AEDC agreed to remove N100,000 from the fine and that he would have to pay the N400,000 fine.
Upon submitting this same complaint at the complaint session, Ocheni was directed by the AEDC customer care to appeal the case at the NERC Lokoja Forum Office if he was not satisfied with the previous resolution.
