The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) is to refund over N11 billion to customers in the southeast region, being the sum it over-billed them between January to September 2023.
This is contained in an order by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which insisted that the EEDC over-billed 1,011,402 customers within the period through overestimation.
At the billing cycle for energy consumed in February 2024, NERC said EEDC shall credit the accounts for all customers that were over-billed between January to September 2023 based on the Commission’s assessment as contained in Schedule 1.
The commission lamented that the persistent non-compliance with the order on capping of estimated bills by the EEDC for the period January-September 2023 had led to widespread customer dissatisfaction, which had aggravated customer apathy to pay their bills, thereby contributing to the liquidity issues in the NESI.
A check on order no 2024/006 by the NERC indicates that the sum of N11,866,263,420.31 was over-billed from customers between January and September 2023.
According to a performance review done by the NERC within the period under review, the EEDC failed to comply with the monthly caps as estimated bills approved by the commission.
“Upon completion of the review, the commission issued an RD stipulating a 14-day compliance deadline which expired in August 2023.
“The RD also notified EEDC that further regulatory actions shall be taken in accordance with the KPI Order for subsequent non-compliance. The continuous failure of EEDC to adhere to the commission’s monthly caps for estimated billing has led to significant over-billing of customers,” the NERC noted.
While outlining the monthly over-billings, the NERC noted that 203,375 customers were over-billed N1,933,495,624 in September; 188,298 customers were over-billed N1,745,269,356 in August.
Peoplesmind
