NERC Announces New Penalties For Metre Bypassing, Tampering: “N30,000 For Repeat Offenders”

The Nigerian Electricity Commission (NERC) has announced new penalties for electricity theft, metre bypassing and tampering

The commission said violators using single-phase metres will a fine of N100,000 while repeat offenders would pay N150,000 fine

Three phase metres violating NERC’s metre rule will pay N200,000 and N300,000 for repeat offenders

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has introduced new sanctions for electricity consumers including individuals and businesses guilty of bypassing and tampering with metres.

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.

Read also

CBN lists ways to avoid the new N100 ATM withdrawal charges as it increases limits

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.

Read also

Tariff Tsunami: How Tinubu’s government raised prices across telecoms, power, ports, others

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.

Confirming the development, NERC said that the decline is a result of the naira's appreciation since the last MYTO review, which occurred earlier in April. 

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.

Read also

CBN increases ATM withdrawal limits, vows to sanction banks dispensing lower

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.

Source: Legit.ng