Upgrade: Discos May Move Three Million Subscribers To Estimated Billing

Except there is a last-minute intervention, about three million electricity customers may be forced into estimated billing or outright darkness due to their failure to upgrade their prepaid meters.

This is as a consumer group estimated that half of the 5,993,340 metered customers would be caught in the web of the government policy.

But another group opined that anybody who has not upgraded his meter until now should be one of those Nigerians who like to display lackadaisical attitudes towards government policies, saying the upgrade started last year.

In the past 10 days, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has repeatedly reminded Nigerians of the need to upgrade their meters.

“Have you updated your meter yet? From November 24, 2024, you may not be able to recharge your meter without updating. However, updating is easy and free.

“DisCos have already commenced issuance of two free Key Change Tokens which will update your meter.

“The update will not affect the units in your meter, nor will it make your meter run faster than usual. Contact your DisCo for more information,” the NERC said in a post on its handles.

As the NERC continued to sensitise consumers to the meter update, most of the distribution companies appeared unbothered until the exercise elapsed on Sunday.

As of yesterday, there were various complaints from customers who have yet to update their meters.

While some customers said they encountered technical glitches in their efforts to update their meters, others complained of a lack of electricity and many said they got feedback that their meters could not be updated and they had to be replaced.

Earlier, the distribution companies in Lagos told their consumers that all Unistar meters would be phased out by November 14 2024 due to Token Identifier rollover.

Customers using Unistar meters were asked to pay for the replacement of their meters, sparking outrage from affected customers.

The Unistar meter producers denied claims that their meters are outdated. They stated that their meters utilising the card meter technology are fully upgradeable and compatible with the STS meter technology.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission also intervened, urging the DisCos to halt their replacement of Unistar prepaid meters.

The FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, at a recent meeting held at the FCCPC headquarters in Abuja and was attended by representatives from the NERC, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency NEMSA, various electricity distribution companies and Unistar Hitech Systems Limited, expressed concern over practices that require consumers to pay upfront for meters without reimbursement, calling it a direct violation of the NERC Meter Asset Provider and National Mass Metering Regulations 2021.

He also noted that DisCos frequently places consumers with faulty meters on estimated billing, saying this is prohibited under NERC’s regulations.

Bello cited an example of a complaint received by FCCPC from an Ikeja Electric customer, who had expressed frustration at being asked to replace a functioning meter at a significant personal cost.

To prevent potential exploitation, FCCPC  directed that all meter replacement processes be conducted transparently, with costs borne by the DisCos and not passed on to consumers.

Bello stressed that FCCPC would enforce strict compliance with these regulatory requirements to protect consumers from arbitrary charges and estimated billing.

The NERC’s Order mandates that DisCos must prioritise metering for unmetered customers under the National Mass Metering Programme and follow strict guidelines for replacing faulty or obsolete meters.

“Furthermore, DisCos are prohibited from placing customers on estimated billing due to delays in meter replacement, as new meters must be installed immediately upon removing any faulty or obsolete unit,” the FCCPC boss said.

However, it appears the DisCos did not heed the FCCPC’s directive FCCPC as complaints abound from customers about being asked to pay for the replacement of meters that cannot be upgraded.

Reacting to this, the NERC issued a statement warning DisCos to desist from asking customers to pay for meter replacement.

The commission said no customer should be made to pay for the replacement of any faulty or obsolete meter.

According to a statement last week, the regulator said it was aware that some DisCos had instructed their customers to pay for the replacement of their faulty or obsolete meters.

“The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is aware that some Distribution Companies have instructed customers to apply and pay for the replacement of faulty and obsolete meters within their franchise areas. This instruction contravenes the Commission’s Order No. NERC/246/2021 on the Structured Replacement of Faulty and Obsolete end-use Customer Meters in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” the NERC said.

According to the regulator, the order states that no metered customer should be forcefully migrated to estimated billing.

It was also emphasised that any customer’s meter adjudged to be obsolete or faulty must be replaced free of charge by the DisCo, provided the damage was not caused by the customer.