The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has introduced new sanctions for electricity consumers including individuals and businesses guilty of bypassing and tampering with metres......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
The commission disclosed this in its newly revised Order on Unauthorised Access, Metre Tampering, and Bypassing on its X page on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
NERC reveals the reason for the new sanctions
NERC said the new sanction became effective on January 22, 2025, and aligns with the Electricity Act 2023 and Consumer Protection Regulation (CPR) 2023 to boost the enforcement against electricity theft and ensure compliance with metre regulations.
According to the new order, distribution companies (DisCos) are mandated to disconnect illegal connections without prior notice and give clear conditions for reconnection.
NERC said the move was to reduce unauthorised access to electricity, metre tampering and bypass.
Also, the new order will establish transparent reconnection guidelines to ensure compliance and halt future violations.
NERC announces new penalties for offenders
The commission introduced stricter sanctions for electricity consumers found culpable of metre tampering and bypassing.
The new penalties include Non-Maximum (Non-MD) for single-phase metres, with first offenders paying N100,000 as penalties, and repeat offenders charged N150,000.
For Non-MD three phase metres, first offenders would pay N200,000 and subsequent offences will attract N300,000 penalty.
NERC also directed DisCos to begin awareness campaigns to educate consumers on the consequences of violating the new order and to regularise their connections.
According to reports, NERC asked DisCos to develop a guideline to identify their assets and liabilities to boost effective regulations.
NERC fixed exchange rate for tariffs
A previous Legit.ng report disclosed that the electricity regulator announced that the currency rate used to determine Band A consumers’ current electricity cost had been lowered by 16.03%.
NERC cited this in its recently released Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) for May to December 2024.
The electricity regulator consequently said that it slashed the rate from the present N1,463.3/$ to N1,277.8/$ due to the appreciation of the naira against the dollar in the past month.
For instance, in the April MYTO, Ikeja Disco received a monthly electricity subsidy of N18.7 billion. After assessment, this has dropped to N10.866 billion.
NERC fines DisCos for overbilling customers
Legit.ng earlier reported that Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has been fined ₦1.69 billion by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for overcharging customers.
As per NERC’s statement, the fine is due to AEDC’s disregard for the commission’s previous order restricting projected billing for power users.
The fine was specified in the official “Order NERC/2024/114” that the commission issued.