The number of complaints received by electricity distribution companies from consumers rose to 204,506 in the first three months of this year.
According to data obtained from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the complaints received by the 11 Discos in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 15.02 per cent from the 177,807 received during the fourth quarter of 2019.
A breakdown of the report showed that Ibadan and Port Harcourt Discos had the lowest customers’ complaints resolution rates based on the proportion of complaints not addressed in the first quarter of 2020.
“In total, the Discos attended to 188,749 complaints, representing an increase of 1.84 percentage point from the preceding quarter,” the report said.
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“Similar to the preceding quarter, Enugu and Yola Discos received the highest and lowest number of customer complaints respectively during the first quarter of 2020.
“It is noteworthy that Yola has continued to record the least customer’s complaints since the second quarter of 2019.”
According to the report, the Discos’ customer complaints centred on service interruption, poor voltage, load shedding, metering, estimated billing, disconnection, and delayed connection.
The report said Discos received complaints on each of those key issues, adding that only Kaduna Disco had no record of customers’ complaint on load shedding.
NERC said metering and billing accounted for 42.96 per cent (87,854) of the total complaints received during the first quarter of 2020 as against 50.49 per cent (89,782) recorded in the preceding quarter.
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This implies that, on average, 965 customers complained about metering and billing per day in the first quarter of 2020, NERC said.
“Another issue of serious concern to customers is service interruption and disconnection which respectively account for 18.40 per cent (i.e., 37,631) and 12.06 per cent (i.e., 24,666) of the total customer complaints during the quarter,” the commission added.
“Also, the commission continuously monitors the operation and efficacy of its Forum Offices which were set up to redress on consumers’ complaints not adequately resolved to the customers’ satisfaction by the responsible Discos.”
