NUEE RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS BY NERC REGARDING DISCOS OVERCHARGING 7.1 MILLION CUSTOMERS
Ayodeji Obisanya, the chairman of the National Union of Electricity Employee (NUEE), has addressed the allegations made by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) regarding Distribution Companies (DISCO) overcharging approximately 7.1 million customers in the past year.
Responding to the issue of DISCOs overbilling customers, Obisanya explained to Techeconomy that distribution transformers supplying each house are metered. He clarified that what people commonly refer to as overbilling is, in fact, an estimated bill provided to customers without meters. The distribution transformers supplying each house are metered after considering those already metered, and the remaining customers receive estimated bills.
Obisanya, in an exclusive interview on Monday, highlighted government and regulatory bottlenecks as the primary challenges in the industry. He expressed this viewpoint when discussing the reported overbilling of over 7 million unmetered customers by the Nigerian Distribution Companies (DISCOs).
Earlier in the week, it was reported that power distribution companies had allegedly overbilled approximately 7.1 million unmetered electricity consumers between January and September 2023. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), a Federal Government agency, disclosed this through an analysis of the monthly number of overbilled customers.
Various Regulatory Interventions for Non-Compliance with the Order on Capping of Estimated Billing to Unmetered Customers were issued to the 11 DISCOs by NERC. These interventions revealed that the power distributors accumulated over N105 billion due to overbilling.
Notable figures from the analysis showed Yola Disco overbilling about 42,902 customers by N541.9 million, Abuja Disco overbilling 1,823,218 customers by N17.9 billion, and Benin Disco overbilling 754,849 customers by N10.5 billion.
Obisanya acknowledged the challenges related to the government, regulator, and meter providers, along with issues concerning the exchange rate. He emphasized that the bottlenecks arise from the government and regulator to the meter provider, stating that they are not the meter providers but rely on different companies for meters.
The report also indicated overbilling by Enugu Disco, Eko Disco, Ibadan Disco, Jos Disco, Ikeja Disco, Kaduna Disco, Kano Disco, and Port Harcourt Disco. The regulator announced plans to deduct N10,505,286,072 from the annual allowed revenues of the 11 power distribution companies in the next tariff review as a sanction for non-compliance with the capping of estimated bills for unmetered customers.
Obisanya clarified that DISCOs cannot be solely blamed for the infraction, attributing responsibility to industry regulators. He highlighted that the meter provider sends payment receipts directly to customers, but the application process involves the DISCOs.
He emphasized, “Discos are not meter providers; all the bottlenecks come through to our regulator.” He raised concerns about the importation of meters and the challenges faced by meter providers due to changes in the rating and the need to comply with regulations.
(News Source: Techeconomy)
