Recently, service reflective tariffs (SRT) was introduced. The introduction of these tariffs led to customers being classified into tariff bands. Each specific band obligates the Distribution Companies (DisCos) to provide their customers with particular hours of electricity supply. However, many customers can have been complaining that the DisCos are not meeting their electricity supply mark.
Last week, The Electricity Hub, a part of Nextier Power, organised a customer engagement programme in Ikorodu. The engagement programme was in partnership with the Network of Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria (NECAN).
The aim of the programme was for the respective DisCo, Ikeja Electric, to engage its customers. Through the engagement, customers were informed about their rights and responsibilities, billing caps on specific areas, tariff bands, complaint redress mechanisms, among other things. This knowledge was to ensure customers could hold their DisCos accountable for meeting the electricity supply mark. Also, to make sure the customers played their part in improving the electricity supply industry.
Many customers at the engagement programme were not aware of the tariff band classifications they fell into. And on being aware, the customers complained that the DisCo was not meeting the electricity supply mark, despite charging for it. For example, a woman who found out that she fell under tariff band B complained about not getting up to eight hours daily. Customers under tariff band B are supposed to get a minimum of 16 hours of electricity supply every day, monthly.
There were many such complaints at the customer engagement forum that Ikeja Electric promised to address by inviting the customers to the DisCo’s Customer Complaints Unit (CCU).
There are similar cases of customers not getting the accurate hours of electricity supply based on the tariff bands they fall under. Is it fair for customers to be billed according to tariff bands when the DisCos are not meeting the electricity supply mark? And what can be done to remedy this issue?