FCCPC Declares It Is Not The Customers’ Duty To Buy Transformers, Orders DisCo To Effect Refunds
- Nigerian electricity consumers should not have to bear the responsibility of providing core infrastructure like transformers
- This is according to a recent directive from the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
- The commission has also told Nigerians what to do to ensure that they get their investments refunded to them
Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has issued an order that will go down in Nigeria’s history as one that changed everything wrong about power supply.
The regulator declared at the FCCPC Electricity Consumer Forum in Ota, Ogun State, that it is not the customers' responsibility to invest in buying transformers, poles, cables, and other related items.
FCCPC further ordered the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company to refund whatever consumers had invested in buying said items.
Source: Twitter
The Executive Vice-Chairman of FCCPC, Tunji Bello, gave this directive at the forum held in Ilogbo, Oju-Ore area of the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun, where community leaders under various Community Development Committees and Associations brought their complaints against the Disco.
FCCPC orders Disco to refund customers'
The community leaders complained to the FCCPC about the nonchalant attitude shown by the IBEDC to them, despite several letters written to them, the PUNCH reports.
The Ado-Odo/Ota Zonal CDC Chairman, Mr Olatunji Onaolapo, lamented that despite the huge investments the communities made to get their transformers, they are often left in darkness.
Onaolapo narrated that customers had bought up to 80 transformers in his community, Itele Ota, and still have to run after the Disco to install them, a situation he described as unfair.
In response, the IBEDC boss in Ogun state, Abdulrasaq Jimoh, blamed the communities for not informing the Disco first before buying the transformers.
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Jimoh claimed that they ought to have informed the IBEDC and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) of their intention to buy transformers before proceeding with the purchase.
FCCPC boss, Tunji Bello, who was represented by Mrs. Bridget Etim, another FCCPC official, countered Jimoh’s claims.
“We are not going to accept that as a commission. For the ones that had happened before, we were not aware. We told the IBEDC before that for subsequent investments in network areas, returns must be given to the investors (the consumers). The previous ones were not properly documented with us, but subsequent ones must be refunded.”
The FCCPC boss referred to a recent situation with Jos Disco, where customers were refunded their investments in transformers, even without the FCCPC's involvement.
FCCPC insisted that once the customer informed the Disco of intentions to purchase transformers, it was the duty of the Disco to take it up with the regulator.
Etim stated;
“I am correcting this because the Disco is saying you have to write NERC. If you tell the Disco that you want to invest, the Disco has the responsibility to escalate it to the regulator, that this is what the community is doing.”
FCCPC urged Nigerians to inform the consumer protection agency of their plans before going ahead to invest in transformers, and promised that they would get their refunds through energy credits.
NERC warns customers against buying transformers
Source: UGC
Recall that NERC has warned customers not to buy key electricity equipment like transformers, poles, and cables.
To monitor this directive, NERC provided an email and phone number where consumers can report incidents where they were forced to.
FCCPC slams $220 million fine on WhatsApp, Meta
In related news, the FCCPC has also slapped a $220 million fine on WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta.
The regulator issued this penalty for discriminatory data practices against Nigerian users.
The effort of WhatsApp and Meta to appeal the decision was unsuccessful as the tribunal not only upheld the sanction, but issued an additional $35,000 fine.
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Source: Legit.ng
