UNARGUABLY, electricity customers have never gotten a fair deal from the distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria, instead outrageous bills have remained their lot. The service providers every now and then freely bombard the electricity consumers with outrageous bills even without services rendered. It doesn’t matter to them if the customer didn’t use any electricity for months, it therefore implies that presently, all that is required for the service providers to be hitting jackpots from their vulnerable customers is only to be connected to its grid; supply or not immaterial.
And failure to pay their arbitrary and outrageous bills subjects the customers to embarrassing disconnections. Still, even when on the disconnection, bills continue to accumulate for the customers. In most cases, the bills are strategically, mischievously overestimated aimed at putting customers in perpetual debt bondage such that they would always have outstanding.Â
The ugly implication of the anomalies is that the arbitrary bills embolden the service providers to relax and remain unproductive since services rendered do not determine earnings, but indiscriminate billing system. The glitch encourages laxity as come rain or shine, customers must pay bills outrageously.Â
It implies that where as little as feeder pillar in the transformer or other accessories required replacement, the service provider may not bother as its earnings are not determined by services rendered as would be the case under a prepaid metering system.
Unfortunately, only prepaid metered customers pay accurately for services rendered while DisCos overbearingly exploit helpless customers on estimation, sadly in majority.
Prepaid metering system therefore provides an effective mechanism for boosting electricity supplies in the country as the device makes it absolute that only services rendered are paid for. As a matter of fact, federal government has no business banning importation of generators into the country, but ensure that all electricity consumers are prepaid metered on pay-as-you-use basis. The estimated billing system whether outrageous or underestimated constitutes threats to economic growth and productivity as it unconsciously provides avenues for exploitation. Every economy grows when citizens and services users pay accurately for services rendered to them. And essentially, it brings some disciplines and accountability thereby eliminates avoidable wastages.
For example, the number of prepaid metered customers that leave power running when away or not needed have drastically reduced if at all they still exist when compared to those on estimation. The implication of prudently managing the use of electricity is that a lot of energy will be saved for those that actually have good need of them.Â
It is therefore imperative that while Federal Government continues in its onerous drive towards boosting sustainable power generation for the country, a viable mechanism to judiciously manage and checkmate the ones already generated for optimal use is put in place through prepaid meters. Until all electricity consumers are regulated digitally through prepaid metering systems, loss and waste of energy will continue unabated and supply remains inadequate.
And finally, digital metering conserves energy against the usual wastages as only customers in need of electricity switch on to power for use. The way out of the predicament is simple; compulsory prepaid metering system for all customers and its failure should be taken as economic sabotage.
•Carl Umegboro,
07057101974
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