Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) cautioned The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on Wednesday not to disregard its orders regarding outdated meters.
The commission issued a warning, stating that IKEDC and EKEDC would face severe penalties under current consumer protection rules if they attempted to violate the directive.
Recall that the FCCPC instructed the IKEDC and EKEDP to immediately stop replacing the Unistar prepaid meters due on Tuesday of last week.
The commission claims that the decision was issued in response to the companies’ purported unwillingness to obey instructions from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, or NERC.
However, the DisCos are reportedly taking steps to disregard the commission’s orders.
Ondaje Ijagwu, the FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, responded in a statement released on Wednesday, saying, “Any attempt by these DisCos to proceed in contravention of it will attract severe consequences.”
The statement made it clear that, in contrast to the rumors being spread, the NERC’s approval of new meter prices has nothing to do with IKEDC and EKEDC’s plan to replace Unistar meters.
The statement claims that withdrawing or replacing the Unistar meters would be difficult without adherence to NERC’s Order on Structured Replacement of Faulty and Obsolete End-user Customer Meters in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (Order No. NERC/246/2021).
