- The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) on Monday has summoned all Electricity Distribution Companies to appear before it to defend allegations of outrageous bill levelled against them by electricity consumers.
- It said in a statement that the council through a letter issued by the Director-General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, had informed the power firms, fixing the hearing on the complaints for next week Monday, September 7.
- This development came based on the fact that the council has been inundated with consumer complaints on exploitative electricity billing.
According to the statement, “The Council, in response to numerous complaints of electricity consumers on estimated bill and non-provision of metres, issued the summon to each of the distribution companies, warning that absence by any of the companies at the hearing would be regarded as a violation of its enabling Act.
“The Federal Government’s apex consumer protection agency, in a letter dated August 26, 2015 and signed by its Director General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, has fixed Monday, September 7, 2015 for the hearing on these issues.
“The agency, in its letter, stated that it has been inundated with complaints commonly referred to as ‘crazy bill’, by which Electricity Distribution Companies are alleged to arbitrarily determine consumption level of consumers of electricity and bill them accordingly.”
- The statement also added that the council had received complaints that many consumers have paid for metres for periods spanning over 12 months, but were yet to be supplied same by their respective Discos.