A prepaid meter acquired from the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) by Emmanuel Oluwadare, a Lagos State resident, stopped functioning just seven months after installation.

The meter was installed in October 2023. By May 2024, the device stopped supplying energy to his house in the Ikorodu area of the state.

Oluwadare contacted the IKEDC and a field agent who went to the residence and retrieved the device for repair. In following their company?s rules, the agent filled out a retrieval form to document this activity.

The repair period that Oluwadare had thought would be a quick process stretched into months, translating to darkness at his residence. Still, he endured the inconvenience.

In August, another agent returned the meter confident that it was now in good condition but the problem persisted.

?After three weeks away, I returned home in May 2024 and discovered that the meter was not supplying (sic) again,? Oluwadare told FIJ on December 31.

?I complained to Ikeja Electric and they sent a field agent to come and look into my complaint. When he came, he detected that the meter had stopped powering the house and he retrieved it.

?Two months later, precisely on August 5, 2024, they said they had repaired the meter and brought it back for installation.

?After installing it, they detected that it wasn?t supplying energy still. The field agent retrieved it immediately, filled out another retrieval form and took the meter to their office for repair.?

While the company takes its time to resolve, replace or return the faulty meter, Oluwadare continues to pay the price as his house remains unconnected to the power grid. He rejected a direct connection offer because of the fear of unjust estimated billing.

Oluwadare kept sending emails, making calls and chatting with the customer care representatives of the company for a quick restoration of his meter but the company?s response was for the customer to get a replacement.

Since August, the company has not returned the meter. It has however told the customer to buy another meter.

?But I am insisting that they should return my meter. If it can?t be repaired, I want it returned. I am surprised at how it became faulty just in a few months. I did not mismanage it, it was not tampered with and was not burnt. How could it have developed unresolvable issues? Now, they are telling me to go and buy another one. This is unfair,? Oluwadare said.

?I don?t know where they are standing. After they told me to buy a new one, they still sent me a message that they were working on the meter.

The distribution company sent Oluwadare a message advising him to request a replacement as the meter could not be repaired due to some faulty components.

?With respect to your request for service, kindly be informed that your retrieved meter could not be repaired by relative vendors. Therefore, you are advised to key into SMARTKYC for replacement of the meter,? the November 12 text message read.

On December 3, the company explained why it could not repair the meter. ?Please, be informed that [your] prepaid meter is faulty due to internal component failure. Hence, the customer will be required to request for meter replacement,? IKEDC stated.

Oluwadare is insisting if truly the fault was due to some components, such components could be replaced.

While the company is asking him to request a replacement, it has remained silent on whether it will be supplied at no cost to Oluwadare.

Nevertheless, the customer said he had been told that a replacement was no different from buying a new one as he would be paying for it.

?Their replacement is not dissimilar to buying a new one. When I got the message to queue for a replacement, I checked their website and nowhere was a channel for replacement stated,? Oluwadare added.

?Their officers later explained to me that I would have to pay for it and foot other charges completely. If I buy another one, they will only swap the old meter number for the new one and install it.?

The IKEDC had not responded to an emailed inquiry FIJ sent on Tuesday as of press time. However, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) previously declared it illegal for distribution companies to ask customers to pay for a meter replacement.

?The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is aware that some Distribution Companies (DisCos) have instructed customers to apply and pay for the replacement of faulty and obsolete meters within their franchise areas,? the NERC wrote in a November 18 statement.

?This instruction contravenes the Commission?s Order No. NERC/246/2021 on the Structured Replacement of Faulty and Obsolete End-Use Customer Meters in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

?The order clearly states that no customer with a meter should be forcefully migrated to estimated billing. If any customer?s meter is adjudged by any DisCo to be obsolete or faulty, it is the responsibility of the DisCo to replace the meter free of charge, provided that the fault was not caused by the customer.

?The Commission restates its commitment to protect customers? interests and rights by ensuring compliance with established regulatory standards and enforcing regulatory penalties for non-compliance by its licensees.? (FIJ)

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