The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has said Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) should make refunds to consumers who purchased meters.
Discos have been overwhelmed by meter demand from non-metered consumers, hence, houses taking the bull by the horn to purchase the meters without waiting for provision from the Discos.
As of September 2021, there were over 8.01 million unmetered customers out of 12.78 million registered energy customer population, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which means only 37.3% of the population are metered.
Addressing consumers taking up the responsibility of metering their houses, FCCPC, via a Twitter post on Sunday, said, “Customers can purchase meters using the MAP Framework.
“However, DISCOs are responsible for refunding or compensating customers who paid in advance for the meters. The cost of the meter is to be reimbursed in 36 equal monthly payments using consumer-purchased energy credits.” it wrote.
The government agency further stated that consumers shouldn’t take up the responsibility of providing transformers, poles or other electricity equipment, neither should they repair faulty transformers.