By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in the country have been charged to respond to customers’ complaints quickly for better service delivery.
This task was given to the energy firms by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), which said the companies must design a quick response mechanism to address issues from their customers.
Speaking last Saturday at a four-day one-stop-shop for addressing billing, metering, transformer, connection, disconnection, customer service and other electricity consumer issues in Ikeja Electric coverage areas, the acting executive chairman of FCCPC, Mr Adamu Abdullahi, said the highest number of complaints received by the commission was on the power sector, which created more concerns to call for the forum.
He said his organisation would get commitment from discos on a time frame within which such complaints have to be resolved.
“The major complaints received from all over the country are on over billing, community transformer problems, disregard of metering and regulations from NERC concerning disconnection, energy tapping, tariff band classification
“Other issues also had to do with account reconciliation, adjustment bottlenecks, disconnection without notice, and billing before connection of the billed property with electricity.
“These are issues that are very serious for consumers, and when they request reconciliation most time the DISCOs are not forthcoming.
“That is why complaints are brought to the NERC and FCCPC, which is the last resort apart from the court,” he said.
The FCCPC boss, however, advised Discos to be more forthcoming in addressing customers’ complaints quickly, adding, “This is not our core competence.”
“They have the primary responsibility of offering services to their consumers and resolving these complaints.
“The consumers should have confidence in their service providers and feel free to complain to them first because that is what the law says.
“We appeal to the complainants not to take the law into their own hands but ensure that they lodge their complaints in the right manner.
“We are here to resolve the issues. To sit down with complainers and the people who would normally resolve these complaints.
“We resolved all these problems in these few days we are here or give a timeline to dispose of the complaints. If they fail, you are free to report to our Lagos office.
“We give you the assurance that specifically we are here for you. Please free to use our services.
“We are always on the ground 24/7 to sort your problems. We will ensure that whoever that is not doing the right things is made to do what is right,” he added.
“We thank our colleagues in the process of resolving these issues, the NERC, NEMSA, and the DISCOs themselves, for finding time to come here.
“We give you the reassurances that we will do whatever that are within our power to resolve your issues and whatever that is not resolved please report to us.
“We are here for customers, so feel free to let us know your problems, and we will resolve them,” he emphasised.
