Power consumers lodged 333,947 complaints on metering, billing in Q3’2023 — NERC

Power consumers lodged a total of 333,947 complaints bordering on metering, billing and service interruption to their various distribution companies within a period of three months, the Federal Government has said.

It disclosed this in the latest third quarter report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, stating that the complaints were lodged in the months of July, August and September 2023.

An analysis of the report on Friday by our correspondent showed that the customer complaints in the third quarter was higher than what was recorded in the preceding quarter by 8,049 cases.

The report stated that “the total number of complaints received across all Discos (distribution companies) in 2023/Q3 was 333,947; Ibadan DisCo received the highest number of complaints (59,901), representing 17.93 percent of the total complaints received. Abuja Disco received the least number of complaints (1,919), representing 0.57 percent of the total complaints received.

Compared to 2023/Q2, the number of complaints received, number of cases resolved, and average resolution rate changed by +2.47 percent (333,947 in 2023/Q3 vs. 325,898 in 2023/Q2), +1.19 percent (317,179 in 2023/Q3 vs. 313,442 in 2023/Q2), and -1.2 percent (94.98 in 2023/Q3 vs. 96.18 in 2023/Q2) respectively.

“Benin (-47.85 percent), Jos (-26.21 percent) and Ikeja (-1.84 percent) Discos recorded decreases in the number of customer complaints received compared to 2023/Q2.

“Conversely, eight DisCos recorded increases in the number of customer complaints with significant increases being recorded by Yola (+43.28 percent), Kano (+17.46 percent) and Port Harcourt (+16.05 percent).”

On the type of complaints, the report stated that “the most frequently reported issues among the 333,947 complaints received by Discos in 2023/Q3 were metering (57.31 percent), billing (12.88 percent), and service interruption (8.07 percent).

“These three complaints categories cumulatively accounted for over 78 percent of the total complaints in the quarter. Out of the 333,947 complaints received in 2023/Q3, 317,179 were resolved, translating to a resolution rate of 94.98 percent.”

It stated that all the DisCos, except Abuja DisCo (67.17 percent), had over 90 percent resolution rate for the complaints received within the quarter with Kano DisCo recording the highest resolution rate of 99.71 percent.

The NERC, however, stated that it monitored complaint handling and resolution processes adopted by the DisCos during the period under review.

It stated that DisCos were mandated to submit monthly customer complaints reports which the commission had to review to identify cases where regulatory intervention was necessary.

“Through the Customer Protection Regulations issued by the commission in March 2023, the customer service standards in the NESI have been updated to conform with international best practices.

“The commission is implementing initiatives geared towards improving customer experience in the NESI (Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry). A major initiative is the ‘N call centre’ being implemented by the commission which will provide a centralised portal for customers to pass complaints directly to their service providers.

“The commission will have near real-time visibility into the filing and resolution of customer complaints by the Discos which will enhance its monitoring of Discos’ compliance with customer service standards,” the NERC stated.

It further noted that in preparation for the go-live of the commission’s call centre, mock calls/stress tests had been conducted and as of September 30, 2023, eight Discos had confirmed readiness for the go-live service.

It added that on September 11, 2023, the commission unveiled its Power Outage Reporting System, which is a mobile application designed for electricity customers to report outages in real-time.

“Once the outages are reported on the app, the relevant Disco is notified to allow it to commence necessary remedial actions. When supply is restored, the customers on the feeder may also receive notification via the app,” the NERC stated.