PHED, EKEDC… DisCos with highest number of customer complaints in Q4 2024

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says electricity distribution companies (DisCos) across the country received 275,681 customer complaints in the first quarter (Q4) of 2024.

NERC, in its quarterly report, said the figure represents a 16.13 percent decrease compared to the 328,696 complaints recorded in Q3 2024.

Among the DisCos, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) received the highest number of complaints, totaling 54,683 cases, while Eko DisCo received 47,911 cases, followed by Ibadan DisCo with 47,510 cases.

Also, Abuja DisCo recorded 23,963 complaints, IKEDC received 23,236, Jos DisCo got 19,882, Kano DisCo had 17,328, Enugu DisCo recorded 15,617, Benin DisCo got 13,953, Aba DisCo received 5,513, and Kaduna DisCo had 4,168.

The report added that Yola DisCo had the lowest, with 1,917 cases.

“Nine DisCos recorded a decline in the number of customer complaints received in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter of 2024,” the commission said.

The report noted that Kaduna, Kano, Eko, Yola, Enugu, and Abuja DisCos recorded the most decline in customer complaints.

However, Benin, Aba, and Ikeja DisCos saw an increase in the number of complaints received between Q3 and Q4 of 2024.

“The most common issues among the 275,681 complaints received by DisCos in 2024/Q4 were metering (51.29%), billing (10.70%) and service interruption (8.49%),” the report said.

“These three (3) categories cumulatively accounted for 70.48% of the total complaints in the quarter.”

NERC said the commission also received 4,180 complaints from electricity consumers in Q4 of 2024 through its customer complaints unit (CCU).

According to the report, only 1,231 complaints were resolved, reflecting a 29.45 percent resolution rate.

The report said the resolution rate declined by 1.70 percentage points from the 31.15 percent recorded in Q3 2024.

“Customers of Ikeja and Eko Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) lodged 1,731 and 836 complaints respectively accounting for 41.41 percent, and 20.00 percent of the total complaints lodged at NERC-CCU,” NERC said.

“Conversely, Aba Power had the lowest number of complaints with eight amounting to 0.19 percent.”

The commission expressed concern over the low resolution rate, noting that measures are being implemented to improve the speed of dispute resolution by the DisCos.

The report indicated that during the reviewed quarter, metering-related complaints made up 36.82 percent of the total cases.

It also highlighted other prevalent issues among the 4,180 complaints received, including billing (31.24 percent), service interruptions (15.50 percent), and tariff band concerns (6.29 percent).

NERC said the four categories accounted for 89.85 percent of all complaints recorded in the quarter.

The report added that complaints on billing that were resolved during the quarter resulted in a credit adjustment on customers’ bills to the tune of N40.2 million.