Following a report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that over 5.96 million customers are being inaccurately charged by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in the country, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that it is committed to protecting Nigerians from outrageous estimated billing.
According to the report by NBS almost 53 per cent of Nigeria’s 11.27 million electricity customers receive inaccurate billing.
NERC in an awareness video released via its social media platform addressed the use of energy caps which were created to protect unmetered customers from outrageous estimated billing.
NERC said it has developed a methodology to determine monthly energy caps, that is, the maximum amount of energy distribution companies (DisCos) can charge unmetered non-maximum demand (non-MD), customers, each month.
According to NERC, the caps are determined based on the consumption of neighbouring customers and DisCos are penalised for flouting them. The introduction of energy caps by the NERC aims to provide a fairer billing system for customers who have not yet been metered.
By establishing maximum limits for billing, NERC seeks to prevent DisCos from overcharging customers based on estimations, which have often led to disputes and complaints. NERC also highlighted five important things all estimated billing customers should know about energy caps.