The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has instructed electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to replace obsolete and faulty meters for their customers without imposing any charges.
This directive, announced in a statement released by NERC’s management on Monday, comes in response to reports that some DisCos have been requiring customers to pay for the replacement of outdated meters, particularly the Unistar brand prepaid meters.
Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Eko Electric Distribution Company (EKEDC) have confirmed that Unistar prepaid meters, which were initially deployed over a decade ago, will no longer be supported as of November 14. This decision is attributed to technological upgrades and the Token Identifier (TID) rollover issue.
Emphasizing the free replacement policy, NERC declared that the financial responsibility for replacing faulty or outdated meters lies solely with the distribution companies. It also reiterated its prohibition of estimated billing for metered customers.
“The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is aware that some Distribution Companies (DisCos) have instructed customers to apply and pay for the replacement of faulty and obsolete meters within their franchise areas,” NERC stated.
“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 Order clearly states that no customer with a meter should be forcefully migrated to estimated billing.
“If any customer’s meter is adjudged by any DisCo to be obsolete or faulty, it is the responsibility of the DisCo to replace the meter free of charge, provided that the fault was not caused by the customer,” the statement added.
NERC further advised customers to report cases of non-compliance by DisCos to ensure the directive is upheld.
