The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in Nigeria has launched an investigation into the high cost of electricity by distribution companies, with a view to putting an end to high tariffs.
At a meeting held in Abuja on Friday between the officials of distribution companies and the CPC, the Director General of the Council, Mrs Dupe Atoki, said there had been an increase in complaints by electricity consumers in the last few months bordering on indiscriminate increase in electricity bills, non-supply of meters and mass disconnections.
Mrs Atoki said the CPC would not hesitate to sanction distribution companies found guilty of the allegations brought against them.
The meeting had been called to look at ways of ensuring that no electricity consumer in Nigeria was short-changed.
Complaints by electricity consumers have been on the rise in the last few months and some of the issues raised, which were discussed at the meeting, are the refusal of distribution companies to install pre-paid meters in consumers’ homes, high and estimated charges.
The Executive Director, Regulatory and Stakeholders, Abuja DISCO, Abimbola Odubiyi and the Head of Customer Service, Port Harcourt Distribution Company, Godwin Oruwiroro, gave reasons for the delay in the distribution of prepaid meters.
Recently, at a public hearing on power, the Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr Sam Amadi, expressed displeasure with the non-installation of prepaid meters in consumers’ homes among other issues bothering on service delivery.