Energy

What you should know as an electricity consumer

Published

7 years ago

April 26, 2018

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The law makes provisions to protect individual’s rights as an electricity consumer in Nigeria, but not many are aware of these provisions.

Below are some of the top provisions of the law that protect your rights as an electricity consumer in Nigeria.

By law, you are entitled to at least 14 days between the date you receive your Electricity bill and the date when you are to pay that bill.

By law, your Electricity Distribution Company must give you a written notice of disconnection before it can disconnect you for non-payment of your bill.

After giving you a Notice of Disconnection, your Electricity Distribution Company must wait for at least 90 days from the date of giving you the notice before it can legally disconnect you.

If you are unlawfully disconnected, you can compel your Electricity Distribution Company to reconnect you without paying reconnection fee, and you can get this done without going to court.

If you are illegally disconnected, you are entitled to damages at a minimum of N1,000 per day to be paid by your Electricity Distribution Company for each day of disconnection till your power is restored.

There is an administrative body that meets in your city, or a city close to you, that monitors the activities of Electricity Distribution Companies and will compel them to respect your rights if they breach same.

If you are not aware of these rights, then you, like so many others, are the victim of a conspiracy of silence by the Electricity Distribution Companies, who have been statutorily mandated to carry out regular public awareness campaigns on these and other consumer rights within their franchise area.

But there is now a solution at hand. An online platform www.nepawahala.ng

has been created to educate power consumers of their rights under the reformed power sector in Nigeria. Not only that, if you have suffered from any breach of your rights, you can get *free help* on that platform to enforce your rights.