BILLING

I am a customer on estimated billing by my DisCo. I do not understand how the DisCo arrives at the amount I am required to pay at month end.

The Commission has issued a Capping order since 2020 that ensures that unmetered customers will be billed in a transparent manner that puts them at par, with their metered counterparts in their area. The Commission does not allow for customers to be billed above the energy cap. To this effect, the Commission has published the caps for all feeders in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

What are the payment options for the settlement of electricity bills?

A customer may settle his electricity bill using cash, cheques, POS, E-channels. MDA are not allowed to settle bills in cash.

I just moved into an apartment and the DisCo is billing me for energy consumed by the former tenant. What should I do?

Customers are required to always find out the billing status of an apartment before renting it. Any customer that moves into apartment with outstanding electricity bill should immediately notify the distribution company in writing. The DisCo shall thereafter be required to ensure that any outstanding debt is assigned to the appropriate customer.

My meter recently developed fault and the DisCo placed me on estimation. I do not understand why the estimate is far more than what I used to pay when I had a meter.

NERC has issued an Order that new meters must be installed upon the removal of faulty/obsolete meters, and the customer shall not be placed on estimated billing on account of the DisCo’s failure to install a replacement meter after the removal of the faulty/obsolete meter. However, where the DisCo is unable to provide a replacement meter within a billing period, an average of the last three (3) months billing/vending shall be applied for the purpose of determining a customer’s energy consumption.

What do I do when a DisCo decides to remove my meter and migrate me to estimated billing?

A DisCo is required by the regulations of the Commission to replace a defective meter at its own cost and therefore not allowed to migrate metered customers to estimated billing. Any instance of forceful migration to estimated billing should be reported to the Commission.