INARGUABLY, electricity customers
have never gotten a fair deal from the distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria,
instead outrageous bills have remained their lot. The service providers every
now and then freely bombard the electricity consumers with outrageous bills
even without services rendered. It doesn’t matter to them if the customer didn’t
use any electricity for months probably the customer toured abroad or kept
apartment under lock and key.
It therefore implies that presently, all that is
required for the service providers to be hitting jackpots from their vulnerable
customers is only to be connected to its grid; supply or not immaterial. And failure
to pay their arbitrarily and outrageous bills subjects the customers to embarrassing
disconnections. Still, even when on the disconnection, bills continue to
accumulate for the customers.
In most cases, the bills are strategically,
mischievously overestimated aimed at putting customers in perpetual debt bondage
such that they would always have outstanding. Then, each time some of the
workforce are broke particularly during festive seasons; Easter, Sallah and
Christmas or personal engagements like parties, naming ceremonies, burial etc,
harassing the vulnerable customers over outstanding with ladders for informal
settlement becomes a viable option. Sometimes, a room apartment or mini-shop
gets as much as N25,000 as monthly consumption bill whether power was supplied
or not. Some apartments get as much as N120, 000 as monthly consumption bills.
Some even get over N1, 500,000 unjustifiably as bill. And where the customer
struggled and paid all, he gets increment in the following bills such that
outstanding must exist for selfish interests someday.
The ugly implication of the anomalies
is that the arbitrary bills embolden the service providers to relax and remain
unproductive since services rendered do not determine earnings but
indiscriminate billing system. The glitch encourages laxity as come rain – come
shine, customers must pay bills outrageously. It implies that where as little
as feeder pillar in the transformer or other accessories required replacement,
the service provider may not bother as its earnings are not determined by
services rendered as would be the case under a prepaid metering system. On
account of this, a whole community over time had been abandoned in blackout as
long as the DisCo wished despite the fact they ought to generate their incomes
from services rendered to the communities. Unfortunately, only prepaid metered
customers pay accurately for services rendered while DisCos overbearingly exploit
helpless customers on estimation, sadly in majority.
Prepaid metering system therefore
provides an effective mechanism for boosting electricity supplies in the
country as the device makes it absolute that only services rendered are paid
for. As a matter of fact, federal government has no business banning
importation of generators into the country but ensure that all electricity
consumers are prepaid metered on pay-as-you-use basis. The estimated billing system
whether outrageous or underestimated constitutes threats to economic growth and
productivity as it unconsciously provides avenues for exploitation. Every
economy grows when citizens and services users pay accurately for services
rendered to them. And essentially, it brings some disciplines and
accountability thereby eliminates avoidable wastages.
For example, the number of prepaid
metered customers that leave power running when away or not needed have
drastically reduced if at all they still exist when comparable to those on
estimation. The implication of prudently managing the use of electricity is
that a lot of energy will be saved for those that actually have good need of
them. From a practical study, all the electric lights and gadgets unnecessarily
switched-on during the day when not useful are not connected to prepaid
metering system. It is therefore imperative that while federal government
continues in its onerous drive towards boosting sustainable power generation
for the country, a viable mechanism to judiciously manage and checkmate the
ones already generated for optimal use is put in place through prepaid meters.
Until all electricity consumers are regulated digitally through prepaid
metering systems, loss and waste of energy will continue unabated and supply remains
inadequate.
The key benefits of the prepaid
metering system are emphatically tripartite in nature. Prepaid metering system
automatically creates a responsibility and efficiency chain starting from
consumers - distribution - generation. For instance, aside making all consumers
to strictly and accurately pay for services used, it automatically propels DisCos
to go extra miles towards improving in their services to ensure steady supply knowing
that no income is derived without services rendered. The Discos will irrefutably
without any external pressures ensure at all times that not only adequate power
is distributed but supervised to see that it is effectively delivered to
customers endpoints for their earnings to occur.
And finally, digital metering conserves
energy against the usual wastages as only customers in need of electricity
switch on to power for use. The present-day laxity among the distribution
companies that even when put on notice that customers are in blackout, they
relax without taking any urgent measures to remedy the situation is because
supply or not, majority are on estimated billing system. Hence, their monthly
targets are spread to the vulnerable customers on estimated bills with threats
of disconnections. The way out of the predicament is simple; compulsory prepaid
metering system for all customers and its failure should be taken as economic
sabotage.
Umegboro is a public affairs analyst and an associate of The Chartered
Institute of Arbitrators (United Kingdom). [07057101974-SMS only]
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