The Eko Electricity Distribution Company has apologized to some of its customers who were unintentionally classified in service category A, leading to incorrect charges at the new rate of N225 per kilowatt hour from N68/kwh.
Recall that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday announced the new tariff hike, which is about 241 percent increment in rate for customers on Band A. Customers on Band A are those who enjoy 20 hours and above electricity supply daily.
Eko DisCo said the error was as a result of a temporary glitch in its back-end system.
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According to the DisCo, it is currently working with its IT partners to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
“We are writing to inform you about a recent issue that may have affected your meter vending charges. We identified that some customers were inadvertently classified in service category B and A, resulting in incorrect charges at the newly announced rate of N225. This error occurred due to a temporary glitch in our back-end system. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
“We are currently working diligently with our IT partners to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. All affected customers will be reimbursed appropriately.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding. We are committed to providing you with accurate billing and a positive customer experience,” the DisCo said in a statement.
On Friday, NERC fined Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) N200,000 (Two Hundred Million Naira) for failure to comply with the prescribed customer band classifications for the tariff billing.
“This decision follows a detailed review and customer feedback, which revealed that AEDC had applied the new tariff to all customer bands, contrary to the Order, which was designed to ensure fair billing practices,” NERC said in a statement.
The electricity regulator ordered AEDC to reimburse all customers in Bands B, C, D and E respectively that were billed above the allowed customer categories/tariff bands provided in the April 2024 Multi-Year Tariff Order 2024 for the DisCo.