Kaduna Electric says it has given refunds to customers without meters who were charged too much because their bills were estimated.
Estimated billing is a way of charging customers without meters for electricity they used based on their past usage, without considering the actual amount of energy used.
The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission in February penalized the 11 electricity distribution companies for charging their customers about N105bn too much in nine months.
“The NERC said a check of how the electricity distribution companies billed customers without meters in 2023 showed they did not follow the monthly energy limits set by the commission,” the NERC had said.
In response to this and in an effort to protect customers without meters from unfair billing by Discos, the commission stated that under Section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 2023, it had issued the order on Non-Compliance with Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/2024/004-01 4).
It said the order specifies, among other things that: “Credit adjustment to customers: Discos are to give refunds to all customers without meters who were overcharged from January to September 2023 by the billing cycle in March 2024”.
In a statement on February 23, the Kaduna Disco said it would follow the directive of the regulatory body by giving refunds to the affected customers
However, in a post on its X handle on Thursday, Kaduna Electric said it has followed the NERC directive.
“As directed by NERC, Kaduna Electric has followed the order to give refunds to customers who were charged too much from January to September 2023.
“The complete list of beneficiaries can be found on our website,” the Disco stated.
It is yet to be confirmed if other Discos have complied with the NERC order.
The PUNCH reports that out of the 13,231,807 electricity consumers in Nigeria, only 5,885,687 have been metered as of January 2024.
