Metering, billing, service interruptions accounted for 70% of complaints in Q3 2024 — NERC
…As customers received N207m as credit adjustments for as credit adjustments for over billing
By Seun Ibiyemi
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reported that metering, billing, and service interruptions accounted for 70.28 percent of customer complaints received across all power distribution companies (DisCos) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.
According to NERC’s latest quarterly report, the total number of complaints received across all DisCos in Q3 2024 stood at 328,696. This marks a 14.35 percent increase compared to the 287,441 complaints reported in Q2 of the same year.
The most common issues raised by customers were metering (41.95%), billing (21.28%), and service interruptions (7.05%). These three categories collectively made up 70.28 percent of the total complaints for the quarter.
Eko DisCo received the highest number of complaints, totalling 64,987, which represents 19.77% of the total complaints. In contrast, Yola DisCo recorded the lowest number with just 2,583 complaints, accounting for 0.79 percent of the total.
The report highlighted significant increases in the number of complaints received by several DisCos in Q3 2024 compared to Q2 2024. Benin (+96.16%), Kano (+52.22%), Yola (+26.74%), Eko (+21.75%), and Abuja (+21.30%) DisCos saw the largest rise in customer complaints. However, Enugu DisCo was the only one to experience a decrease, with a 5.68 percent reduction in complaints.
During the period under review, NERC’s customer complaint units (CCUs) handled 5,287 complaints, of which 1,647 were resolved, yielding a resolution rate of 31.15 percent. This is an improvement of 8.77 percentage points compared to the 22.38 percent resolution rate recorded in Q2 2024.
Customers of Ikeja and Eko DisCos were the most active in lodging complaints at the NERC CCU, with 2,401 and 1,073 complaints, respectively. These accounted for 45.41 percent and 20.30 percent of the total complaints filed at the CCU. Conversely, Aba Power received the fewest complaints, with only 10, or 0.19 percent of the total.
While acknowledging the low resolution rate of 31.15 percent for complaints submitted to the CCU in Q3 2024, NERC stated that measures are being implemented to improve the resolution process.
The report also revealed that during the quarter, NERC facilitated credit adjustments of N207.4 million to customers across the country following the resolution of complaints related to over-billing. Complaints about billing constituted 34.37 percent of the total complaints received, while metering (29.98%), tariff band issues (13.60%), and service interruptions (12.24%) were also common concerns. These four complaint categories accounted for 90.18 percent of the total complaints in the quarter.
Additionally, complaints related to disconnections made up 6 percent of the total, while issues such as delays, voltage interruptions, load shedding, and noncompliance with regulations made up the remainder.
In terms of appeals, the report noted that a total of 3,202 active cases were recorded at NERC’s forum offices during Q3 2024. This included 1,035 unresolved appeals carried over from Q2 2024 and 2,167 new appeals filed during the review period across the commission’s 33 forum offices.
NERC stated that it is implementing measures to improve the effectiveness of customer complaint resolution at the DisCo-CCU level, with the aim of reducing the number of appeals filed at its forum offices.
