TheCable

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission says electricity distribution companies (DisCos) received 109,048 complaints from consumers in the third quarter of 2017.

This was disclosed on Tuesday in the quarterly report of the commission.

The report showed a decline in the number of complaints, a slight improvement from the 116,761 complaints received in the second quarter of 2017.

According to the report, an average of 1,185 complaints were made in a day while 76 percent were resolved.

NERC added that the bulk of the complaints by consumers were on billing and meters, while they also raised “serious concern” about the quality of electricity supply.

Benin DisCo had the highest number of complaints, followed by Ikeja DisCo. Yola DisCo, which has been put up for sale by the federal government, recorded the lowest number of complaints.

“Metering and billing dominated the customer complaints, accounting for 60% (i.e., 65,429) of the total complaints received during the period under review. This implies that, on average, 711 people complained about metering and billing per day,” the report read.

“The commission has continued to monitor the complaint handling and resolution process adopted by DisCos. The commission has also continuously improved on the operation of its forum offices which are set up to adjudicate on complaints that are not adequately resolved to the satisfaction of customers by the responsible DisCos.

“As at the end of the third quarter, the commission had established twenty (20) forum offices for effective customer appeal complaints redress. In line with its strategic plan, the commission have commenced the development of several frameworks to improve customer care in NESI including metering and quality of service. For example, the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) regulation currently being developed is expected to address metering challenges in the industry.

“In 2017, the forum offices received 896 complaints per quarter from customers who were unsatisfied with DisCos’ decisions on their complaints. Out of the complaints lodged at forum offices, 21% were resolved without a hearing. On average, 40 hearings were conducted per quarter on the submission received and 547 cases heard and resolved.”