The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ‘crazy’ bills

  • Crazy bills era set to end

    Electricity consumers seem to be winning their age-long battle against estimated billing.

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) plans to cap the estimated billing system by fast-tracking metering of all customers.

    NERC’s General Manager, Finance & Management Services, Abdulkadir Shettima, dropped the hint in a chat with The Nation on the sidelines of the launch of bank consumer and retail financing scheme of Meter Asset Provider (MAP) meter acquisition summit in Lagos yesterday.

    Shettima noted that the capping of estimated bills will compel MAP operators to meet targets on the metering policy.

    The summit, organised by Mojec Meter Asset Management Company, one of the MAP operators, brought together power sector regulator, banks, MAP operators and some Managing Directors of Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to find solutions to some issues in the MAP metering project.

    On why the Commission opted to cap estimated billing when customers look forward to expedited metering when the MAP scheme takes-off next month, Shettima said all customers will not be metered at same time.

    Read also: Mushin, Lawanson residents reject ‘crazy bills’

    Besides, he said that the NERC would not want customers that are not metered early enough to get outrageous bills.

    His words: “We are very serious in ensuring all customers are metered at a maximum of within three years and the metering starts from May this year. Because we don’t want the MAPs or the distribution companies to relax and take this project as any other rule or regulation that they will try to circumvent, we came up with several ways to make sure they comply.

    “One of the ways is that they post a cash-backed performance bond that can be called upon and they will lose money if they don’t meet their target, the monthly metering requirement.

    “The second one is this capping of estimated bills. Currently, customers that don’t have meters are given estimated bills that are ‘crazy’ in some respects. We want to stop that practice.

    “There will be a cap; if a distribution company feels that cap is too low and it is losing money, it is incentivised to go and meter that customer. Assuming the cap is N4,000 and the DisCo feels if that customer is metered it can collect N10,000, let it quickly go and meter that customer if it believes the customer’s consumption is up to that.

    “The reason we came up with this measure is to ensure compliance with this current metering scheme and to fast-track the level of metering so customers pay for what they consume.

    “There is a committee that is working on the capping because a lot of analysis has to be done and also a lot of consultation with all the stakeholders, including the DisCos, MAPs and customer groups to arrive at what is fair, so the cap has to be a cap that is realistic, not too high and not too low.”

    According to Shettima,  the number of unmetered customers has risen from 4.7 million in December 2017 to five million now.

    According to him, MAP operators will pay 2.5 per cent of the total cost of the entire meters’ performance bond.

    Shettima said: “For instance, if the meters are N100 billion, they will post 2.5 per cent of the N100 billion performance guarantee and it will be backed by cash.

    “It is as a result of this measure that the MAP operators said they will not ask customers to pay unless they have the meters ready and they will meet the 10-day installation deadline from the date the customer pays for meter. So, there will be financial sanctions when an operator defaults in a contractual agreement.

  • Protesting Okota residents insist on prepaid meters

    Some residents of Okota, Lagos, yesterday insisted on being metered by the Ikeja Electric (IE), as they relaunched their compaign against “crazy bills.”

    During a protest at the Okota Road office of electricity distribution company (DisCo), the residents said they would no longer pay any bill that is over N5000 a month until they are provided pre-paid meters.

    But, in a swift reaction, IE implored the residents to explore dialogue to resolve the issue.

    The protesters, who are members of the Okota Residents Association (ORA) Zone A, arrived at the IE office around 7:30 am, bearing placards with inscriptions, such as: “No disconnection till you settle us”; ‘”No prepaid meters, no payment”; “No more estimated bills”; “No more meeting with ORA Zone A  executives till our demands are met”; “Install prepaid meters with immediate effect” and “Emmanuella Nwafor must go”.

    The Nation learnt that Nwafor is the IE marketer for the area.

    Vice Chairman of Bishop Okojie Street Resident Association Eze Phillips said they had been given estimated bills since 2016, adding that meetings with IE management have not yielded result.

    “We demand stoppage of the current estimated electricity bills. Until we are metered, any bill more than N5000 will not be paid. There should be no further disconnection of residents for failure to pay the exorbitant bills. Any attempt to disconnect us will be resisted. The Okota Zone A marketer should be redeployed because of her unruly and unprofessional conduct. She is rude to customers.

    “We also demand that there should be no more sales of prepaid meters. Installation of prepaid meters should begin with immediate effect. No more meetings with IE on our demands. The executives of ORA Zone A have met the management more than eight times since 2016, with no result. The promises made have not been fulfilled,” Phillips said.

    A resident, Olagunju Olamide, wondered why he should be billed N18,000  monthly.

    He said he paid N176,000 last year to clear his arrears, but stopped paying when he discovered that the bill was not going down. “Now my bill is almost N200,000 within a short period. Why should I pay IE bills like I’m paying house rent?”

    Another resident, Austine John, of Bayo Oyewole Street, said the House of Representatives had passed a bill outlawing estimated bills.

    “Why are we still being billed outrageously for the light we do not consume? We cannot have enough sleep or enjoy what we are paying for. This is not acceptable and we will resist it,” he said.

    IE’s Assistant Public Relations Officer Akinola Ayeni said protest was not the best way to resolve the issue.

    He added that the residents could not tell the firm who to hire or not as the marketer is doing her job.

    ”It is not true that prepaid meters are sold. We don’t sell prepaid meters, they are free.

    “We have finished one of the schemes for installing prepaid meters. We will begin another pilot scheme next month. We cannot meter everybody at the same time.

    “On the estimated billings, we are a standard organisation. We are guided by rules. We have a policy guiding us and we follow the rules to bill customers as they consume. We follow guidelines on how to bill our consumers. We bill them for what they use. If anybody has any issue with his bills or that we have billed them outrageously, they can come to our office and have a meeting with us. Most consumers don’t want to pay, some pay and we appreciate them. There are some consumers who are just billed N1000 but you will see them with other protesters claiming that they are overbilled.”

     

  • Alafia Estate residents rue crazy bills

    Residents of Alafia Estate in Oke Ira, Ogba area of Lagos have cried out over the outrageous bills they have been getting from the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IE) in recent months.

    The Vice Chairman, Alafia Estate Landlords’ Association, Pastor Gabriel Adeleke, said the development had forced the association to engage IE in negotiations aimed at finding a lasting solution to the problem.

    He said the disagreement between the residents and the company would not have arisen in the first place, if the request for prepaid meters was not frustrated by the electricity firm.

    Said he: “Prepaid meter would have put an end to the problem of estimated bills in the area, but IE has made it difficult for us by coming up with outrageous demands.

    “When we had a meeting with the National Electricity Regulation Commission officials from Abuja, we’re told that prepaid meters were free, since it has been funded by the Federal Government.

    “However, IE asked us to pay N25,000 for a single phase meter and N30,000 for a three-phase meter. They claimed it was for instalment fees, but we became suspicious when the fees were increased to N100,000, hence our meeting with the regulatory authorities where the truth was revealed.”

     

  • Mushin, Lawanson residents reject ‘crazy bills’

    •EKEDC: we’ll look into your complaints

    Some residents of Mushin and Lawanson in Lagos, yesterday protested against what they called “crazy bills” by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC).

    They said they had been receiving such bills in the past three years.

    The protesters from Olufowobi, Adefimihan, Aborisade, Dumade, Onipede, and Durojaiye streets and Mushin road, gathered at Five Star on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, with placards, condemning the Disco.

    The inscriptions on their placards read:  “No more crazy bills,” “Stop estimated billing,” “Lets pay for what we use, not what you think,” “We want prepaid meters” and “Stop cheating.”

    They said the bills brought to them monthly did not reflect what they consumed. They said they were not enjoying electricity and demanded pre-paid meters to enable them pay for what they consume.

    The residents returned the bills, which they claimed were estimated, to the EKEDC, saying they were not ready to pay.

    The bills were not received from them.

    Speaking on their behalf, a member of Olufowobi Community Development Association (CDA), Olu Ogunjimi, said: “They have been giving us outrageous bills. They give some houses up to N25,000 and N30,000 monthly for bills that should not be more than N6000 if there was pre-paid meters. We have been asking them for pre-paid meters but they have refused and that is why we have come to their office; if they cannot give us pre-paid meters, they should stop giving us estimated billing.

    “We have been on this issue for over three years and we have tried so many times to get it solved, all to no avail. We have been to the EKEDC office in Jibowu about two three times, but nothing to show for it.”

    A Lawanson resident, Festus Akingbehin, 78, who lives in a room, said he was usually billed N16,000 or N18,000 monthly.

    He said he had written to EKEDC in Marina, Jibowu and copied the Minister of Works, Power, Housing on his estimated bills.

    “I have been to this place several times to lodge the same complaint; EKEDC officials from Jibowu have been to my house for inspection more than 10 times but all to no avail,” he said.

    The septuagenarian wondered how he would be paying N4,000 monthly rent and be paying an average of N16,000 monthly electricity bill.

    “I am a pensioner; how do they expect me to get the money to pay such amount monthly. All I want is pre-paid meters,” he said.

    Another Lawanson resident, Lateef Labinjo said he was paying for the service he is not enjoying.

    “They bring us exorbitant bill every month and I cannot cope with it anymore. They brought us about N30,000 last month for eight rooms. If we had pre-paid meters, our bill will not be more than N5,000 monthly. If we were enjoying it, it would have been a different story. They should give us stable light,” he said.

    A protester, Thomas Iyoha said his bill increased from N51,000 to N100,000, explaining that he always paid his bills regularly and cannot explain where the increment came from.

    Another protester, Busayo Adebanbo said unstable electricity, especially at night, often led to fracas on Mushin road. According to him, if there was light the area boys’ incessant attack would be prevented.

    Responding, EKEDC Commercial Manager, who simply identified himself as Osas, said the complaints would be looked into.

    Osas said: “You are here to make complaints concerning your bills and that you want prepaid meters, the issue you have just raised is not a bad one and it is part of our policies to meter our customers and we will look into it. If you watched the media well, you will observe that the Federal Government has commissioned some agents to do the metering and I know that they will start the project soon. What you need to do is to exercise patience and everyone will be metered.

    “Concerning your bills, you are saying it is high, we will send the marketers to come and check and do proper assessment of those bills and the supply. I know that area well and that area is one that enjoys in terms of electricity supply, but if you are saying the supply in the area is not good, we will verify. I have looked at your bills and I know how the supply to that place looks like, but nevertheless, we will do a crosscheck and verify your claims.

  • Residents protest ‘crazy bills’ in court

    No Fewer than 300 protesters yesterday besieged the premises of the Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge increase in electricity tariff.

    The protesters had stormed the court’s premises around 7.32 a.m. following a suit instituted on their behalf by a Lagos human rights lawyer, Mr Segun Ogunsanya.

    Ogunsanya had filed the suit on behalf of four communities in Lagos namely: Alaba-Oro, Mosafejo-Amukoko, Abule-Kere and Olaniyonu, challenging the alleged arbitrary estimated billing system of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC).

    The claimants are also demanding distribution of prepaid meters to members of the communities.

    Also joined in the suit is the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    The case which was filed before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo has been adjourned till May 30.

    In a similar development, EKEDC said it has restored power supply to residents of Ijegun Imore New Estate in Satellite Town after nine months outage due to transformer fault.

    EKEDC Business Manager, Festac Unit Owolabi Olubango told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that the company repaired the faulty transformer and installed another one to ensure stable power.

    He said: “We have installed and energised two transformers for the community on April 13. Supply was restored to the community on April 15, but unfortunately the repaired transformer exploded a day after the restoration. We have gone to check the transformer and effort is on to put it in proper shape, but notwithstanding more than 70 per cent of the residents are now enjoying supply from EKEDC.”

    Chairman, Electricity Committee of the area, Kamorudeen Akorede, confirmed that EKEDC had restored electricity supply to area.

    He, however, said some houses were still in darkness.

  • Ekiti landlords protest BEDC’s ‘crazy bills’

    Commercial activities at the Ado-Ekiti business office of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) were paralysed for about two hours yesterday as electricity consumers protested what they called the company’s “crazy bills”.

    Acting under the aegis of Ado Ekiti Landlords and Ladies Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria (ALLECA), the protesters took over Ado-Ikere Road, accusing the distribution company (DISCO) of ripping them off.

    The placard-carrying protesters, who were from various parts of the state capital, expressed anger that BEDC officials were allegedly demanding N40,000 before giving them prepaid meters.

    They also accused BEDC officials of “mercilessly extorting” them under various guises.

    Some of them wondered why electricity bills were brought to houses that had long been disconnected and places that had been experiencing blackouts for months.

    Led by ALLECA Chairman, Dr. Ibukun Ogundipe, the placard-carrying protesters marched from Okeyinmi Roundabout before berthing at BEDC office in Ajilosun.

    Some of their placards read: “BEDC, Supply Prepaid Meters”; “No To Crazy Bills”; “No To Epileptic Power Supply”; “BEDC, Your Cunning Acts Must Stop”; “No To Candlelight Power Outage”; “Stop Extorting Us, BEDC Staff are Thieves”; “Our Rights Are Prepaid Meters, Give Us Now” and “Chop and Die BEDC, which account is N15,000 Bill per Month Going,” among others.

    The protest was supervised by officers of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Department of State Services (DSS) to prevent it from being hijacked by hoodlums.

    Addressing the rally, Ogundipe said it was wrong for BEDC to = give between N13,000 and N18,000 bills to a three-bedroom bungalow when power supply lasted for about two or three hours daily.

    He added: “Pursuant to the inability of BEDC to meet our first demand, we shall henceforth start paying N3,000 per month as our legitimate bill without any regard to whatever figure or amount posted on our bills.

    “Our lawyers have been briefed to take appropriate legal action to challenge these unmitigated pains on every electricity consumer in Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti in particular.”

    Ogundipe said the BEDC management had indicated interest in dialogue with the group, saying: “Legal action will be deployed if dialogue fails.

    “Anywhere across the world, prepaid meters remain the best way to measure the actual amount of megawatts consumed and Ekiti case can’t be different.”

    BEDC spokesman Kayode Brown said the company generates 9,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity for Ekiti with daily electricity supply of between eight and 12 hours.

    This, he said, pushed the tariffs upward.

    Brown said: “The protest is a legitimate right, but payment of N3,000 monthly electricity bill doesn’t correspond with what we offer.

    “This is the amount we were charging when the megawatts supply to Ekiti was 4,500, but it has doubled now.”

    Dismissing the allegation that the company was requesting for money before supplying consumers prepaid meters, Brown said: “Some of these consumers are owing as much as N100,000.

    “We asked them to pay certain percentage before applying, but they refused. How do we get money to buy when they are not ready to pay?

    “We have over 100,000 consumers in Ekiti and they can’t get the meters at the same time. We are pleading with them to see reason with us.

    “This company is a responsible one. We can’t cheat our customers. We have got their demands. The management will seek audience with them and resolve the matter amicably.”

  • Communities threaten Eko Disco over ‘crazy bills’

    MEMBERS  of the United Community Development Associations (CDA) in Era and Adaloko in  Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State have asked the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) to stop sending then crazy bills.

    They demanded for pre-paid meters to guide against ‘’these outrageous bills’’.

    They said they would take steps to bar the firm’s officials from coming into their communities if their conditions are not met.

    The CDA appealed to the Federal Government to allow it to buy pre-paid meters from the manufacturers so as to stop Disco staff from exploiting customers.

    The CDA spokesman, Mr. Dele Odebiyi, said the communities contributed to buying their cable poles,  aluminium conductors and transformers.

    “We also contribute to pay for services and parts anytime our transformers develop faults. All the Discos come to do is to install and switch on the transformers, for which they arm-twist us into ceding the ownership of the equipment to them as a pre-condition to linking us to the national  grid, for which we also pay them to do. So, why are we paying for services not rendered? Why must we continue to pay for darkness?” he asked.

  • Dopemu residents kick against ‘crazy bills’

    Dopemu residents kick against ‘crazy bills’

    SOME Dopemu residents yesterday stormed the Ikeja Electric (IE) office in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos to protest against what they called ‘’crazy bills’’.

    The protest began around 9am on major streets in Dopemu before moving to  the IE office around 11am.  It was spearheaded by members of the Dopemu Community Development Association (DCDA)

    The protesters  sang solidarity songs and carried placards with inscriptions, such as : “Say no to crazy billings and demand for prepaid meters”, “Give us prepaid meters now”, “We demand for regular supply of electricity in our community” and “No more estimated billings”.

    Their spokesman, Oluwasegunfunmi David, said the community was demanding a time frame for the supply and installation of pre-paid meters and the stoppage of arbitrary prolonged electricity outage without notice.

    He said: “We are requesting that IE kindly put back our line on the former line that has been supplying Dopemu area. The dismal state of electricity supply in our community is unbearable. Last December, for five days consecutively and in spite of fuel scarcity, there was no electricity supply in Dopemu, which houses the biggest aluminum establishment in West Africa. The whole of Dopemu has been a ghost town; this is capable of causing unrest among the youths, which can result to crime. We expect IE, a private establishment, to be proactive in solving the problems of its consumers and not compound them. Electricity supply was much better in the days of PHCN.

    “We are tired of  estimated bills; we are tired of abusing our intelligence in the community. We want to be treated the way other communities are being treated, like, Akowonjo, Alimosho and Egbeda, we want to be given prepaid meters.

    “If there are no prepaid meters, please don’t come to our community for anything.

    “We do not want violence and that is why we have come to tell you this in peace.  We want prepaid meter to be installed in every building. We will appreciate if this is taken with all seriousness; we are not here to fight or insult anybody. You are here to do business and we are being ripped off of our hard earn money.  We pay exorbitantly without being properly taken care of. We want electricity supplied adequately on our prepaid meters.”

    IE Head of External and Media Relations Ayeni Akinola met with the community’s representatives.

    Briefing his people after the meeting,  David said; “At the meeting, Akinola and another official told us that there are no pre-paid meters now. They said the Federal Government is planning to roll out pre-paid meters this year, but they did not give us th time the meters would come. They begged us but we insisted that we want pre-paid meters.

    “But we said no to all these and that until they give us pre-paid meters, we must not see them in our community. If they don’t give us pre-paid meters, they should not give us light, they should hold their power to themselves and we must not see them in our community. They must not bring bills and they must not come to cut our light. This is the only thing that can cause fight’’.

  • Aba landlords petition Enugu Disco over crazy bills

    The landlords in the commercial city of Aba have petitioned against the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, (EEDC), over what they described as crazy bills including forcing consumers to repair damaged electric transformers.

    They accused the EEDC of enslaving Aba residents with estimated and spurious bills, alleging also that the company uses security personnel, including Army, Police and members of Civil Defence Corp “to compel the residents to pay for blackout”.

    In a petition submitted to the Abia State House of Assembly, which recently passed a vote of no confidence of the EEDC, the Landlords said the company was frustrating the business community of Aba.

    In the petition which they have earlier submitted to the National Assembly, Aba Landlords also accused the company of deliberately refusing to install prepaid meters for Aba consumers.

    The landlords said, “So we want to create avenue to stop them from charging us with estimated bills to meet up with their monthly target, hence the people pay more for electricity consumption than we pay for house rents”.

    The petition said, “Enugu has prepaid meters, Anambra has standard meters which are read and bills given accordingly, Abia must be so”.

    “We want the Abia House of Assembly to compel EEDC to stop the use of force, high handedness and intimidation of the poor, innocent and civil citizens of Aba”.

    The landlords also urged the House to ask the company “to refund the entire excess bill to the respective consumers and to refund 12 months payment to all consumers and return all cables they cut and carted away from Consumers.

    Receiving the petition, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Chikwendu Kalu commended the landlords for speaking out on what they are passing through in the hands of the company, saying that the matter of the activities of the company is before the House.

    The Speaker said, “EEDC has failed; there is no doubt about it. They have failed woefully; there is no way we can move forward without power and organizations like EEDC cannot provide this. We have not gotten it right”.

    Kanu said that the House is planning to have an interface with the regulatory body, NERC, to mount pressure on them to find out if EEDC has met its mandate and if they have not, the regulatory body should think of revoking the license.

     

  • Blackout: Ketu residents reject ‘crazy’ Bills

    Blackout: Ketu residents reject ‘crazy’ Bills

    •Protest five months of blackout

    Residents of Odutan Street in Ketu area of Lagos yesterday stormed the Ikeja District Electricity Company, IKDC’s office to protest over total blackout in the community and reject electricity bills numbering about 2,000.
    They called for an urgent intervention of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola in what they described as inhuman treatment by workers of the electricity company, saying the IKDC staff kept bringing estimated bills despite being in total blackout for over five months.
    The angry residents also lamented that for almost two years, they have applied and paid for the prepaid metres but yet to get any after several months of promises.
    Armed with placards of varying inscriptions, the angry residents called on the IKDC management to urgently restore power in the area. Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: “Say No Billing without Light”, “Fashola Call IKDC to Order”; “Buhari, this is not the Change we voted for”; “We want Pre-paid Metres Now”; “Restore our Light in Odutan” among others.
    Speaking with journalists, Mr Ayo Badmus, 72, a resident, lamented that the residents were tired of receiving ‘crazy’ bills from the company, accusing it of being insensitive to their plights.
    He accused the IKDC of deliberately exploiting them through distribution of ‘crazy bills’, even when they could hardly boast of two hours of electricity supply in a month.
    “We are rejecting their bills. At a time when people manage to survive, the IKDC kept bringing crazy bills. Worst still, they are bringing these bills, when we can’t boast of 30 minutes of power supply daily. This is unfair, inhuman and insensitive at this time when the economy is nose-diving. We can’t continue like this,” he said.
    A resident, who simply identified himself as Ade,  said that the entire Odutan  Community has been without light for months, adding that despite IKDC’s gross inefficiency, they are fond of bringing over estimated bills.
    He said: “Why will some streets have light and while we will not? This is injustice because we pay bills regularly as others. It’s disheartening that the bills the IKDC is bringing don’t correspond with the power supply in the area.
    “We are also not happy with the estimated bills in spite of the blackout.  We want Mr Fashola to intervene.”