CPC asks unmetered electricity consumers to reject ‘jumbo’ bills

Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has warned electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) against billing or disconnecting consumers who purchase the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) during the delivery process. CPC Director General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, bill or disconnect consumers for the period to deliver and install the meter. Atoki, at a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja, as part of a weeklong activities to mark this year’s consumer rights day, stated that the Council had agreed with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to enforce the mandatory 60 days timeline to DISCos to provide meters to consumers who have elected to procure such under the CAPMI scheme. She added that on the expiration of the 60-day timeline, the DISCos would lose the right to bill or disconnect consumers’ electricity source. Apart from that, the CPC boss noted that electricity consumers, who had not been metered, also reserved the right to contest any bill presented to them. Atoki said: “Consumers, who have not been metered, have a right to contest ‘jumbo’ bills and opt to pay the last undisputed bills. “As a result, the Council will stand with consumers who, in line with NERC guidelines, decided not to pay a disputed bill, including consumers under the CAPMI scheme who refuse to be bullied or disconnected after 60 days of not being provided with meters.”