Consumers urge NASS to end estimated billings

Some electricity consumers have appealed to National Assembly to ban electricity distribution companies from issuing estimated billing and compel them to install prepaid meters for all customers.

They made the appeal during the stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos at the weekend.

Mr Akin Badmus, Coordinator, Association of ElectricityConsumers Right, urged the lawmakers at the national level to promulgate a law that would ban Discos from billing consumers on estimation.

Badmus said that issues around estimated billing and non-availability of prepaid meters needed to be addressed to enable Nigerians enjoy the benefits of privatisation.

He said that for over four years the Discos had been privatised, majority of their consumers were finding it really tough on estimated billing and poor services.

ALSO READ: Controversies trail Melaye’s whereabouts

Badmus said he prayed that the 8th Assembly would enact a bill that would criminalize estimated billings to electricity consumers and order Discos to install meters in every household.

“Most discos have refused to install meters that would determine the level of consumption of electricity consumers. Without a device that measures the amount of energy consumed by residents and business owners, how would they determine what to charge such customers?” he asked.

Another consumers, Mrs Felicia Dorothy, Ogba Housing Estate, urged the lawmakers to review the entire privatisation exercise if need be, to enable them address the concerns raised by the consumers.

Dorothy also appealed to the national assembly to proscribed estimated billing to consumers by Disco, adding that such enactment would save consumers from arbitrary billing and shortchanging by discos.

“The national assembly should consider a bill seeking to amend the Electricity Power Reform Act. If such bill is passed, every electricity consumer must be provided with a prepaid meter, thus ending the regime of paying for power not consumed,” she said.

The electricity consumer urged the lawmakers to also criminalise non-provision of prepaid meter after application and illegal disconnection of consumer’s light among others with a fine or jail term.

Alhaji Sunmola Ojurongbe, Chairman, Ojokoro Housing Estate, urged Discos to expedite action towards installation of pre-paid meters for all customers.

Ojurongbe said that would help in checkmating claims of over-billing and estimated billing that were causing disagreements. He said that the estimated bill was not making artisans make profit since “it is high and does not commensurate with the energy consumed.”