Some may call it
cheating, while others may see it as smart billing but it is nothing less than
fraud. The system of billing some electricity consumers, otherwise known
as estimated billing, adopted by the Electricity Distribution Companies
(DisCos) in Nigeria, is a clear case of extortion of consumers without metres,
whether prepaid or the old order. Ironically, the DisCos are unconcerned and
unrepentant, instead they are passing the buck concerning metering to
customers. Imagine living in a compound with four three-bedroom flats and while
three metred three flats get billed about N2, 500 each, the remaining one is
slammed N10, 000 estimated bill, just for one month, by Ikeja Electricity
Distribution Company (IKEDC).
Yet, the DisCos are reluctant to provide
prepaid meters or at least minimise the incidence of over billing or crazy
bills; just promises and no action. And the Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC),
Adeoye Fadeyibi, tried to justify the action of the DisCos while speaking at a
town hall with residents of Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos (its customers), saying the
‘crazy bill’ was because distribution companies take the reading of electricity
consumption of customers who are not metered directly from the transformer.