The Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission (FCCPC), said it took it upon itself to engage consumers in the nation’s power sector, across its various complaints channels, including town hall meetings, because the electricity distribution companies have not been giving the complaints the attention they deserve, despite the rise in number of such complaints.
The Acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Abdulahi Adamu stated this at the Electricity Consumer Complaint Resolution Platform, held over the weekend, in Lagos.
The FCCPC boss explained the need to address increasing complaints, from customers in the nation’s power sector, and modify the behaviour of the nation’s electricity distribution companies, Discos, informed the Commission’s decision to move across the country, organizing town hall meetings with electricity customers, so as to identify their pain-points with the aim of resolving them.
He stated that while the number of complaints, ranging from overbilling, community transformer problems, metering, energy capping, and disconnection, keep on rising, the complainants have not been getting the much-desired attention from the nation’s discos.
He added that, with the support of the MacArthur Foundation, therefore, FCCPC decided to organise town hall meetings, across the country, featuring relevant regulators in the power sector, the consumers and the operators, with the hope of resolving some of those issues.
He stated that while the Commission had been able to resolve some of the issues brought before it by the customers at the forum, it had also given a timeline for those that could not be resolved immediately at the forum.
“This forum is the eighth that we are having this year, with the recent one being in Bauchi, with the support MacArthur Foundation. The Foundation is urging us to go round the country, listen to customers’ complaints, and provide solutions, and this is what we’ve been doing,” he added.
While commending the customers for heeding the call of the Commission by coming out to table their complaints before the forum, the FCCPC’s boss also urged them to take such activities beyond the forum, by availing themselves of the several channels provided by the Commission for such complaints to be lodged.
Also speaking at the event, the Governance and Regulatory, Manager, Ikeja Disco, Jolaoluwa Adewale, assured the complainants of the Disco’s readiness to attend to the issues brought before it and get them resolved.
She commended FCCPC for organizing the forum, describing it as providing the company the opportunity to get nearer to its customers and feel their pulse.
“We are determined to respect the law of the land, and we are ready to listen to every complaint.
“Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to our customers to help us on the issue of energy theft. We need their support in this regard to enable us to efficiently deliver on our mandate. Kindly report anybody, engaging in this act through our whistle-blower platform, where this can be done, either physically or virtually,” she stated.
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