CPC, DISCOs and electricity consumers

It was a sigh of relief for electricity consumers recently as the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) disclosed that “arbitrary billing and group disconnection of electricity consumers without consideration for those paying their bills constitute a gross abuse of consumer rights”. Though this is coming late from CPC, it is better it came than not.

Reports said that “the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has appraised the interaction between the nation’s Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and their consumers, declaring that arbitrary billing and group disconnection of electricity consumers without consideration for those paying their bills constitute a gross abuse of consumer rights.”

It is incontrovertible that the power distribution situation in the country has not gone this bad since the several metamorphoses of organizations and bodies governing the use and distribution of electricity in Nigeria. Right from the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) Ordinance No. 15 which came into force in 1950 with the mandate to integrate electricity power development and make it effective.

Recently, over 20 rural communities on the 33 KVA at the outskirts of Aba were disconnected for over one week. Some conditions were stipulated which upon their fulfilment they would be re-connected. Such conditions include what is considered a death warrant. The communities were expected to sign a pact that they would fulfil the complete payment of the current charge plus 10 percent arrears.

The irony of the whole episode is that some of the communities are on the current charge of as high as between N600, 000 and in some instances close to N1million. Imagine what factors that would scale up the electricity consumption of a rural community to that outrages amount.

The arrears of one of the communities currently stands at over N8million, courtesy of the arbitrarily billing system with the baptismal name”crazy bill”.

If such community had consented to this death warrant, it means that assuming the current charge is N700,000, the community will part with N1.5million- the current charge plus 10 percent of the arrears. Thank God that community did not assent to that death warrant.

Other conditions were not fair either. They include the compulsory application for a bulk prepaid meter and striking a deal with Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) on how many days power will be supplied in a month and at a specific cost. Say N340,000 for 20 days or N300,000 for 15 days. The puzzle that defies resolution is here in the world is the prices of goods and services negotiated before they are supplied? That means that EEDC has been playing some pranks with these communities for some years now as with the proposed arrangement, power would be made available if an accord is struck with the consumers.

Unfortunately, before now, there has been what is called”load-shedding arrangement”, where a community is denied power for some days in order to scale down the monthly bill.

I don’t know what other consumers located across the country are suffering in the hands of other DISCOs, but if their experience is similar to that consumers suffer in the hands of EEDC, the hell is a better place for Nigerians.

It is on this note that CPC is enjoined to up their ante and save consumers from fangs of the DISCOs, especially EEDC. EEDC is indeed a clog in the wheel of progress of Aba as an SME hub of the nation.