[ICYMI] 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The Unistar meter producers denied claims that their meters are outdated.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.

“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,” it was stated.

Speaking with The PUNCH earlier, the Vice Chairman of NERC, Musiliu Oseni, stated that meters that are not upgradable will need to be phased out.

“Operationally, if they say some meters are not upgradable, they can decide to phase them out. But as they remove the meters, based on the rule, they must replace them. It is the responsibility of the DisCos to replace them,” he said.

He emphasised that during the phase-out process, no customer should be placed on estimated billing or be denied access to electricity.

He pointed out that if customers were asked to purchase meters under the MAP framework, DisCos must provide a clear mechanism for refunds, as they are obligated to refund the customers.

However, customers who spoke to our correspondent lamented that the DisCos have been doing the contrary.

A customer of the Ikeja Electric complained of how five meters were phased out in a property of eight flats and the flats were placed on estimated billing, with each asked to pay N268,000 per month.

“In a property I manage at Ikeja, a block of eight flats, IKEDC began by phasing out meters. Five meters have been phased out, and the trend continues.  They asked individual flats to apply for direct connection to the pole with monthly estimated bills. Then, each flat should apply and pay for new meters they never brought. The estimated bill now charged for one month per flat is N268,000. How come a three-bedroom flat will consume N268,000 per month? Some don’t even have an air conditioner.

“Three tenants each just received the same bill this week, regardless of their consumption. They went to the IKEDC office to complain, and the officials told them to go and pay their bills,” the property manager complained.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, the Executive Director of the Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Princewill Okorie, expressed displeasure over the number of consumers that would be plunged into estimated billing over the meter upgrade.

According to Okorie, more than half of the current metered customers would lose their meters and join the over 7 million unmetered ones.

“More than half of metered customers will be subjected to estimated billing by this policy. The same meter that people are crying for so that they can know what they are consuming, you want to frustrate them with this strategy. You want to bring this strategy to make more consumers go into estimated billing. Are the DisCos obeying the estimated billing methodology approved by NERC?

“So, this is an indirect way of putting Nigerians underestimation. And I know that, without a meter, whether you use light or not, they will give you a bill. There was a grid collapse for about five days; the moment light came, those unmetered consumers were made to pay as if there was an electricity supply for 24 hours. It is wickedness against the poor,” Okorie lamented.

The consumer rights activist wondered what the FCCPC is doing to ensure electricity consumers are protected from all forms of exploitation.

“As far as I am concerned, the government should take decisive steps to protect Nigerians against the exploitative tendency of the distribution companies and NERC. The regulator should be investigated, and if possible, sanctioned.

What is the FCCPC doing? Are they aware that consumers are about to be subjected to this? How is the FCCPC protecting consumers? Was it not the consumer protection commission that spoke the other day, and the DisCos said they have suspended it, now that they want to do this, what is the commission saying? How many metered and unmetered consumers do the FCCPC know?” he queried.

Customers share experience

A customer of the Ikeja DisCo, Dare Oguntuase, reported to NERC, his unsuccessful efforts to retrieve his meter allegedly taken away by the DisCo in September.

“NERC should do more than advocacy. Our Discos are irresponsible, fraudulent, and highly unpatriotic. Ikeja Electric is the worst. I have been in the darkness for 63 days now and still counting. My meter No. 47001599126, was retrieved for repair/replacement since 20th September,” he said.

Esther Madu, an X user, said her meter was not accepting the token for the upgrade.

“Someone please help me. I have recharged more than N8,000 on my prepaid meter but my meter has been rejecting the token since Monday. Therefore, I haven’t been able to use electricity in my home since Monday,” she cried out.

A customer of the Port Harcourt DisCo, Engr Gabby, reported, “My meter is rejecting the KCT given to me and I have dropped a complaint to the PHED, to date, no solution.”

Patrick, also under the Port Harcourt DisCo, pleaded with the regulator to extend the deadline, saying his area has been out of power supply due to vandalism.

“Our transformer armored cable was vandalised. PHED refused to fix it. We are contributing N6,000 each to replace the cable. Try to extend this deadline,” Patrick told NERC on X.

Olutosin Runsewe queried why old meter users cannot upgrade their meters.

When asked if she had been able to upgrade her meter, Runsewe replied, “No, they said Unistar meters can’t be upgraded.”

Another customer of the IKEDC, Ikhade Agboghayemeh, shared his chat with the company, which told him to request a meter replacement when he sought information on how to update his Unistar meter.

A customer of the Abuja DisCo simply identified as Austine reported that his faulty meter was not repaired almost a year ago.

“Please intervene in my case with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company. My meter has been faulty for almost a year now. All my efforts to get them to repair it have failed,” Austine begged NERC.

Replying to calls for an upgrade, an electricity customer said, “You guys are funny, still not enough houses metered. You want to out-date existing meters after upgrading without any plans of replacement. The DisCos are making customers pay through their noses for meter replacement. If you don’t pay, they don’t change it or they place you on estimated billing.”

Also, a consumer identified as Mathew CB, voiced his frustration in Enugu.

“How do we upgrade the meter when we don’t have light here in Emene Enugu State for weeks? You can find out from Enugu DisCo why they’re frustrating people living in this part of Enugu State,” Mathew stated.

Alabi Alapa was concerned about whether or not the illiterates understand the process of meter upgrade, asking, “Do you mandate the DisCos to educate all these old women who live alone and are illiterate?”

In his case, another electricity user, Ayo Olaleye, noted that the response he got while trying to update his meter said, “Your meter is not qualified for TID Rollover.”

Meter replacement may continue till March 2025 – DisCos

In a recent interview, the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Oduntan, assured Nigerians that the DisCos would replace their obsolete or faulty electricity meters at no cost to them.

“Any meter that has lost its integrity, either by way of being obsolete or by way of it not conforming to our system. We will need to remove, retract, and replace those meters. The issue of cost is what I now have to make very clear. For Nigerians, be assured that when we come to your doorstep, we retrieve your meter, we shall replace it at our own cost and at no cost to you,” Oduntan disclosed.

He added that this became necessary for cost recovery.

“One of the reasons why we want to retrieve some meters and replace them is because they are making us lose a lot of money. In a particular Disco, we have 10,927 of those meters. Over time, only about 3,200 of them came out to buy credit. The others, we don’t know where they are. That’s a case of serious bypass. Any meter that makes it easy for my customers to bypass and steal energy, I will remove and replace it.

“What Nigerians don’t want is for me to give them further burdens. So, let it be a matter between me and my regulator. My regulator said, ‘Replace those meters at your cost.’ No problem. When I sit down with my regulator, what I need to ask is, I’ve replaced those meters, so what happens? Because I’m not the one that produces or supplies meters. The suppliers need to be paid, and to pay them, somehow the cost has to be recovered,” he posited.

Oduntan revealed that the meter replacement exercise would be done between now and the first quarter of 2025.

He emphasised that it is not in the interest of the DisCos to put customers on estimation because it leads to arguments between distributors and customers, who he also accused of wasting energy when not metered.

Customers blamed

Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of All Electricity Consumers Forum, Adeola Samuel-Ilori, said anyone who has not updated his meter should have himself to blame.

Samuel-Ilori said the upgrade of meters started last year and all consumers should have upgraded their meters by now.

According to him, an extension was done through his group’s continuous engagement with NERC.

“I believe with the type of engagement and enlightenment on it to consumers since last year, many ought to have done it without any hassles.

“If any customer has not done the upgrading till now, it may be out of the lackadaisical attitude of some Nigerians who like to wait till the last minute or until punitive measures are taken before they do the needful.

“I will not fold hands and watch the DisCos do anything that will tamper with consumers rights, even if it means approaching the court of competent jurisdiction. But this meter upgrade is not about sending many to the estimated billing system,” he stressed.

Contacted, a Senior Public Relations Officer at the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Nicholas Utsalo, told our correspondent to send an official email, which has not been responded to since Saturday.

Our correspondent learnt that those whose meters were not updated would either choose to be in darkness or revert to the estimated billing system if they cannot wait till the day their DisCos will consider them for a new meter.

Likewise, individuals may decide to buy their own meter if it is taking too long to get a free device from their utility companies.