The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has increased electricity tariffs while also abolishing fixed charges for all classes of electricity consumers.
In a statement, the regulatory commission said all electricity companies would no longer bill consumers fixed charges, but monthly charges will increase ranging from N9.60 for consumers in Abuja, to N11.05 for consumers in residential areas in Kaduna state.
Commercial consumers will also have an increase in energy charge by nearly N13.35.
A statement from the NERC said the new electricity tariff regime was approved over the weekend by the Commission.
The statement quotes the Chairman/CEO of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi as saying that‘’although, the new tariff regimes comes with an increase in energy charges, all electricity consumers (residential as well as commercial) will no longer pay fixed charges, so their total bills will depend on the electricity they actually consume and may be reduced when they conserve electricity. Consumers will no longer be spending money every month to pay for fixed charges even when they do not receive electricity in their homes and business.’’
According to the statement the commission also abolished estimated billing and has barred distribution companies, DISCOS, from disconnecting people without meter.
According to the statement ‘for those willing electricity customers who paid for meters under the Cash Advance Payment Metering Initiative (CAPMI) but are yet to be metered within the allowable 60 days they would no longer be billed by the electricity distribution companies under the new tariff regime.
The discos will not disconnect them. There is zero tolerance for over billing of customers. An unmetered customer who is disputing his estimated bill would not be expected to pay the disputed bill. He would pay his last undisputed bill as the contested bill go through the dispute resolution process. This is a departure from the old practice which prescribes that customers should first settle the bill while dispute resolution is in process. ‘’
Meanwhile, the commission said no electricity distribution company is allowed to connect new customers without metering the customer first. This is to close the wide metering gap of over 50 per cent and reduce high incidence of collection losses in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
The Commission says it expects the electricity distribution companies to provide better customer service in all aspects of their operations and would hold the electricity distribution companies responsible for their service level agreements.
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