- It’ll cause chaos – NERC
Operators in the private sector of the Nigerian economy have thrown their weight behind the National Assembly for taking the decision to criminalise the use of the estimated billing system by electricity distribution companies across the country.
The House of Representatives commenced the moves to outlaw estimated billing of consumers by the discos after the presentation of a bill sponsored by the House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, which is seeking to prohibit the issuance of such electricity bills to consumers in Nigeria.
In line with the lawmakers’ stance, the Director of Operations, British American Tobacco, West Africa Area, Mr. Charles Kyalo, noted, in an interview with our correspondent, that it was high time the government saved business owners from the increasing cost of electricity in Nigeria.
He said, “If you choose to operate in Nigeria, like we did, there are certain challenges you should prepare for. One of them, and, of course, the biggest, is power supply, particularly electricity supply to power your plant.
“In comparison to BAT companies in other countries, the power cost in Nigeria is massive. We spend five times more to power the plants in Nigeria than in other countries in which we operate; so it is very expensive. It is one of our biggest cost elements in manufacturing and it makes it difficult to compete with other factories because we are already starting at a very high cost base.”
An impeccable source in Nestle Nigeria, who preferred anonymity, as he is not allowed to comment officially for the firm, told our correspondent that the intention of most of the Discos was to ensure that only one out of every 100 consumers got the metre.
He said, “Lawmakers should criminalise estimated billing before doing same to metre bypass. Most individuals and companies have been fleeced from the ‘crazy bills’ of the discos and that should no longer be entertained.
“Some of them claimed to ensure 50,000 metres or more are rolled out before the end of 2018, but over 10 million of their consumers don’t have pre-paid meters. What rationing is that? If most houses have meters, their revenue would drop and they are ready to do anything to avoid that.”
However, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has warned that there will be a complete disorder if the bill is signed into law.
The NERC rather called for the criminalising of metre bypass.
The Commissioner, Finance and Management Services, NERC, Mr. Nathan Shatti, had argued in a press statement that the best help the lawmakers could offer the industry was to criminalise energy theft and meter bypass by consumers.
He said, “This is because with such a law, anyone who thinks he is the boss and he bypasses his metre and is caught, is not just going to pay N2million, but will go to jail.
“‘And even if this is for one week, it will be in his record and he will not be able to contest in an election. That is the kind of law we want. And honestly, he (lawmaker) was happy with our submissions and he said they were going to look into it.
“We really like what they (lawmakers) are doing and this is because they are bringing to the fore the sufferings of people for all Nigerians to know. They do this because they have the voice and they have constituencies to go back to. Also, remember that 2019 is by the corner; they have to show their people that they are doing something.”
