The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has called for a more structural approach to tackle increasing issues in the electricity industry.
Mr Babatunde Irukera, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FCCPC, made the call on Sunday in Abuja.
Irukera said implementation of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Billing Cap Order was one of the approaches to resolve electricity issues in the country.
The order, issued by NERC, states that “DisCos (Distribution Companies) shall ensure that all customers on tariff Class A1 are properly identified and metered by April 30, 2020”.
According to the bill, the maximum R2 single-phase customers, who now have electricity cap of 78kwhr per month and a tariff of N24/kwhr, will be billed N1,872 per month.
Irukera said FCCPC had succeeded tremendously with respect to resolving complaints in this regard.
“However, the fact that there are many complaints on a daily basis, shows that a far more structural or industry-wide approach to resolve the problem of the industry must be adopted.
“We cannot resolve complaints as fast as the number of complaints that come in.
“We have gone to Lagos, Benin, Port Harcourt to resolve 100s of complaints and we are not talking about the number of complaints that come to us routinely and we are resolving.
“We resolved more electricity complaints this year than we have done in any year but the problem still remains.
“It shows that there is something structural that needs to be fixed.
“One of it is the estimated billing; we have no control over how quickly consumers can be metered but we are advocating, insisting and engaging to ensure that happens.
“The DisCos strongly oppose the regulation and we strongly support it and want to proceed to mutual and joint enforcement.
“Those conversations are on-going on what is a fair common ground on how to enforce those regulations.”
Irukera emphasised that the same structural approach was also needed to solve the consumer-related issues in the aviation industry.
