NERC Inaugurates Office To Tackle Consumers’ Complaints

The Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) has  inaugurated the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) forum office to address customers’ complaints.
The Tide reports that the inauguration of the EKEDC customers’ forum office followed the deluge of complaints by electricity consumers.
The office is expected to protect electricity consumers from exploitation by service providers.
The Chairman of NERC, Dr Sam Amadi, said the Eko office was the second level in the chain of resolving consumers’ complaints.
He said that issues beyond the forum were to be handled at the final appeal stage by the NERC.
Amadi, who was represented by Commissioner, Government and Consumer Affairs of NERC, Dr Abba Ibrahim, said that the office would significantly reduce the incidence of protracted and expensive litigations.
The chairman also congratulated the newly inaugurated forum members who had been chosen to serve in the assignment.
Amadi said that the inauguration of the customers’ forum was to ensure that electricity customers had value for their money.
He said the commission was striving to ensure that vulnerable consumers were fully protected from exploitation by service providers.
“Vital consumer issues like billing, metering, connectivity, and price often created disputes between consumers and the service provider.
“NERC has developed the Customer Complaints Redress Mechanism for handling customers’ complaints,’’ Amadi said.
He said that this was in line with the commission’s mandate as provided in Section 32, 80, 83 and the powers conferred on it in Section 96 (1) of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.
The Chief Executive Officer, EKEDC, Mr Oladele Amoda, said that the company was poised to rules and regulations that exhibited customers’ best practice and satisfaction.
Amoda, however, urged customers within the network to avoid contributing money for repairs of transformers, cables and power installations.
The Chairman, West Power & Gas Ltd., Mr Charles Momoh, owners of  Eko Electricity Distribution Company, said that the company planned to invest N42 billion to transform the facility and improve its distribution network in five years.
Momoh, represented by  Mr Tunji Olowolafe, a director,  said the money would be invested in metering, cleaning  the system, cabling, transformers and making sure that everything was in line with what had been specified.