2nd October, 2015
Consumers under Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, IKEDC, are groaning under crazy bills slammed on them recently by the company. The bills have been rising astronomically in recent months, with non users of pre-paid meters bearing the brunt. Some of the consumers are paying as high as 700 percent increase in the crazy billing system recently introduced by IKEDC.
Estate residents wrongly perceived to be wealthy by IKEDC appear to be suffering in silence over the unacceptable billing system. For instance, residents of Dideolu Estate in Ogba area of Ikeja are finding it difficult to come to terms with their electricity bills that have been rising steadily in recent months. While occupants of mini flats in the estate were slammed with bills ranging between N13,000 and N18,000 in August, up from the N2,000 and N2,500 they hitherto paid, occupants of two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats didn’t fare better in August. A director who occupies a three-bedroom flat at the estate was shocked when a bill of N40,000 was brought to him for the month of August. He said the higehest he had paid in the past was N10,000 and wondered how IKEDC came about the N40,000 brought to him to pay for the month of August.
Consumers under IKEDC are so perplexed that they are at loss over what to do as complaints to IKEDC have not yielded any positive result. IKEDC must take a cue from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) which says it has complied with a Federal Government’s directive to refund money to its consumers in the Federal Capital Territory for over-billing them. According to the Managing Director of AEDC, Neil Croucher, the process of refunding those over-billed was ongoing.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, had told the Senate recently that the commission ordered the refund after series of complaints from AEDC customers. IKEDC must adjust its billing system to stop the crazy billing also known as estimated billing of consumers. IKEDC should provide pre-paid meters to consumers as it has been discovered that those with pre-paid meters are not subjected to the fraudulent billing system that is currently going on. Even when there is regular electricity supply, pre-paid meter users don’t pay up to one tenth of what analogue meter users pay per month. There lies the fraud in estimated billing system associated with analogue meters.
Much as we commend IKEDC for improving electricity supply, it is unacceptable that it should subject its customers to such exploitative and fraudulent billing system. It should look into consumers’ growing complaints which cut across its area of operation in Lagos State and immediately rectify the anomalies as the Abuja DISCO is currently doing. Above all, IKEDC should immediately replace the old, analogue meters with pre-paid meters to ensure accurate billing of its consumers.