Electricity Company Begins Sharing Free Metres, Names Those Qualified to Apply

• Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has begun providing free prepaid metres to Band A customers
• The move showed efforts by the DisCo to bridge the metering gap under the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) programme
• The process is being monitored by the industry regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Under the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) programme, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has started giving away free prepaid metres to Band A consumers in its franchise region as part of its ongoing efforts to close the metering gap.

The Federal Government of Nigeria launched the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) programme as part of the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) to give Band A subscribers free metres. It seeks to expedite postpaid clients' switch to prepaid and fix malfunctioning meters.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the industry regulator, keeps an eye on the procedure.

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Babatunde Lasaki, general manager of corporate communications at EKEDC, stated that the company is prepared and committed to metering eligible customers within the project's 60-day timeframe.

He said:

“We encourage all our Band A customers with obsolete and faulty metres to proceed to our website to apply for a replacement at no cost. If you are a postpaid customer under any of our Band A feeders, please apply, and we will metre you immediately”.

Lasaki added that the MAF program is a Federal government intervention to address the metering issues for Band A customers; it does not replace the Metre Asset Provider (MAP) program, which operates concurrently and enables customers to buy their metres and receive a gradual reimbursement of the cost.

“The MAF scheme isn’t only for Band A customers, however, this is the first tranche of the intervention and is solely for Band A customers. Other tranches will commence soon which will cut across our customer base”, he added.

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Lasaki concluded by praising the several actions taken by the federal government to close the metering gap and enhance the overall performance of the electricity industry.

As the top performer on numerous performance metrics by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which oversees the electricity market, EKEDC takes pride in its leadership in technology, customer experience, and service quality.

However concerns have been raised with regards to the distribution formula. Nnenna Mercy said,

"The metre ought to be evenly distributed across the country. How is it that some people still don't have metres while some are getting for free?"

Nigerian DisCo bars customers from recharging old metres

Legit.ng earlier reported that Ikeja Electric announced that it would no longer support the Unister card metre and other obsolete card metres under the Federal Government Metre Acquisition Fund (MAF) initiative.

The company disclosed this in a public notice on Sunday, February 2, 2025, warning its customers that its technology may no longer support the Unistar card metre and other outdated metres.

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According to the electricity company, all eligible Band A customers would get a complimentary metre replacement under the Federal Government/NERC MAF initiative.

Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng