The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced it is drafting laws that will fine DisCos for wrongful disconnection of power supply to customers.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr Sanusi Garba titled “Consultation Paper on Review of Customer Protection Regulations in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI),” according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The NERC boss stated that penalties to DisCos for wrongful disconnection will range from N1000 for residential buildings, N1500 for commercial and N2000 for Industrial.
READ: DISCOs record loss of N58billion in unpaid electricity dues in Q2 2020
What the NERC boss said
“A DisCo which disconnects a customer supply in violation of these regulators shall compensate the customer on equivalent of 100 per cent daily energy Cap for every day the wrongful disconnection lasts.
This shall be determined based on the previous month bill or consumption.
In the event of a property left unoccupied for a period of time following the exit of the occupant, a new occupant of a premises should contact the DisCo on their first day of moving into the premises, which the DisCos should take into consideration for billing such customers,” NERC said.
The NERC also proposed that when a DisCo has overcharged a customer, it should advise the customer in writing within five days of becoming aware of the error and also should repay the amount by crediting the exact amount of the overcharge to the customers’ next bill.
READ: NERC says DisCos will pay capacity charge for rejecting allocated load
“On the other hand, NERC has proposed that, in the case of undercharge from incorrect billing, the DisCos may establish the undercharge and recover the amount for not less than three months.
On replacement of faulty or obsolete meter, NERC said that a meter shall be considered faulty and not in compliance with the Distribution Metering Code if it is determined that any part on that metering system does not comply with the code.”
The NERC also proposed that any customers that need connection to a building is responsible for any accumulated connection charges required by the DisCos as approved by the commission.
“While the distribution licensee shall be responsible for the connection to the customer’s metering point, the distribution licensee shall, within 48 hours of the provision of the requisite materials in the right quantity and quality by the customer, effect connection of supply to the customer’s residence or premises,” NERC said.
READ: NERC Will Punish Any Disco That Rejects Electricity From TCN
In case you missed it
Nairametrics reported earlier this month that the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) disclosed that only 25 of the 160 GenCos licensed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) are currently operating.
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