NERC to sanction seven DisCos for not capping estimated bills

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says it will sanction seven electricity distribution companies (DisCos) for not complying with orders to cap estimated bills to customers.

In a statement distributed on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday, the commission said the DisCos have been given a 14-day ultimatum to explain why they should not be sanctioned.

The Discos are Benin, Enugu, Eko, Ikeja,Kano, Kaduna and Port Harcourt.

“The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued notices of intention to commence enforcement action against the eleven electricity distribution companies over their failure to comply with the Order 197/2020 on capping of unmetered R2 and C1 electricity customers,” the NERC said.

“The Discos have 14 days beginning from June 4, 2020, to explain why the commission should not sanction them over their alleged non-compliance.”

In February, the regulator directed DisCos to replace the former method of computing estimated billing with a new cap for unmetered customers.

At the time, the commission said the directive will protect customers from unrealistic and arbitrary billing as the DisCos have failed to meter most of its consumers.

NERC said the price cap is for unmetered customers on single and three-phase (R2 and C1) tariff class in the 11 DisCos depending on the area until a prepaid meter is installed.

A recently released report by the commission shows that DisCos distributed 22,825 meters to consumers in the fourth quarter of 2019,  72.76 percent less than the 83,768 distributed in the third quarter of 2019.