¤MGN-AFRICA» pin:263789F4 » Ending extortion through prepaid metering: HOPES of positive changes as a necessary consequence of the recent privatisation of the power sector are fast fading. Rather than promote a culture of transparency – a radical departure from the prevalent situation under the government-owned monopoly, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria – the new investors in the power sector appear to have inherited, either consciously or unconsciously, the inefficiencies and corrupt practices that were the hallmark of the PHCN. This is exemplified in the insistence on retaining the arbitrariness in the billing system for which PHCN became very notorious over the years. Called “estimated billing,” this system allows the successor electricity distribution firms to routinely issue bills based on arbitrary estimation to consumers, depending on how much revenue they intend to generate. This is a dubious billing system that has no consideration for whether the consumer called upon to pay enjoys any services or not. While very little or no remarkable improvement has been noticed in the quality of electricity supply since the transfer of ownership to private operators in November last year, consumers are willy-nilly forced to pay through their nose for increasingly deteriorating quality of services. What other name can this be called than fraud? Seeing it as a cheap means of revenue generation, the electricity companies have altogether abandoned the idea of reading meters, for houses that still boast functional meters. This is why the introduction of the prepaid metering system a few years ago was heralded with hope and high expectations by longsuffering consumers. Prepaid metering, just like the mobile phone system, allows consumers to buy units of power and load them into their prepaid meters. Once the units are exhausted, the consumer is not expected to have access to electricity, unless the meter is recharged. Apart from ensuring that indebtedness to the DisCos by consumers is eliminated, it also protects consumers from being short-changed as they can only pay for what they consume. It also eliminates corruption since there is no room in the system for those who go from house to house, ladders in tow, to extort money from people while threatening disconnection if the demanded gratification is not paid. The critical thing, however, is that, with the prepaid metering system in place, it will be difficult for any DisCo that is not working hard to make cheap money. This is why the companies have been reluctant or outright disinterested in providing consumers with prepaid meters. While the attitude of the DisCos is not totally unexpected, it is however the duty of the Sam Amadi-led Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to make sure that the interest of consumers is protected. Just as Ernest Ndukwe did a good job of regulating the telecoms industry to ensure that both the interests of the operators and the consumers were protected, Amadi, who has so far been too lenient with the DisCos, has to be firm in enforcing the rules to ensure that electricity consumers are no longer shortchanged. In the report of the Committee on Public Enquiry Metering in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry set up by NERC, it was discovered that 82.1 per cent, or 23.73 million of the 28.9 million households in Nigeria, had no access to electricity. The same report, according to a newspaper publication, showed that, of the 5.17 million (18.15 per cent) that were connected, only 2.98 million households were properly metered. Even in some of the metered ones, many of the meters were said to be malfunctioning. This only shows the enormity of the ground that needs to be covered. Ordinarily, estimated billing should only be considered if a customer’s meter suddenly develops a fault. Then, electricity suppliers could give estimated bills, which should be based on the previous consumption rates of the customer. But this is not the case in Nigeria, where it has become an instrument of extortion. Even when Amadi directed that consumers should be given prepaid meters, his directive was not heeded and no punitive actions were taken. This is not good enough. Unfortunately, Amadi’s latest response to the numerous problems, has been to inaugurate the Eko Electricity Distribution Company Forum, which he said would handle complaints about metering and billing, among other issues. According to him, issues that could not be handled by the forum would be transferred to NERC. Again, this is not far-reaching as it does not address the fundamental issues that should be in place first. It appears like putting the cart before the horse. It is understood that the main reason for the poor services currently being experienced, including the inability to provide prepaid meters, is lack of funds. It is a failure of the privatisation process that the successor DisCos and generating companies were largely sold to firms that lack the financial muscle and the managerial ability to solve the country’s electricity problems. There are a number of meter manufacturing companies operating in Nigeria today. Amadi has to put his foot down and ensure that consumers are no longer victims of profiteering by dishonest DisCos. Insisting on the provision of prepaid meters is one of the ways of making sure that consumers don’t pay too much for too little. » bit.ly/19qZv3w @OfficialMGN
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 23:13:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015