BY ETORO-OBONG INYANG
By the time you would have finished reading this, your electricity bill would have risen by 35percent, your DSTv subscription would have upped by 25percent, your mobile phone service provider would have charged you for drop calls, and some unsolicited text messages must have bombarded your phones. The list of such elements is endless, you might have been forced to buy fuel at outrages prices, or you were a victim of fake drugs or other households and electronics. And in all these unfortunate experiences, you are just alone, no one to complain to, even when you eventually complain, you would most likely not be attended to by any of the so called regulatory agencies.
That is the painful price Nigerians pay for being consumers, you are so helpless, in some instances, consumers have used their resources to pay for their untimely death due to fake, adulterated or sub standard goods. The consumer buys his electric pole, he contributes financially to service an old transformer on his street, he buys electric cables to get his faulty lines repaired, you are forced to pay fixed charges whether you were supplied with electricity or not, you are offered poor services by airlines, transporters, hoteliers, restaurants, etc, and you dare not complain, in fact you are just made to get used to not getting value for the money you spent to procure goods and services. The consumer’s agony continues with unimaginable nightmare and psychological trauma caused by months of darkness, reckless and crazy bills.
Consumers were told that privatization of public utility companies was going to bring about efficient and effective management with gradual price stability, unfortunately, years after the privitization exercise, there hasn’t been any significant improvement in the way the companies are managed. It’s sad to observe that the only purpose of privatization was to rake in some cool cash for the government.
Unfortunately, the regulatory agencies that were supposed to protect consumers from exploitation have taken side with the new owners to inflict the citizenry with agony. Three years after PHCN was privatized, Dr. Sam Amadi, the helmsman at National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC has consistently been justifying why electricity distribution companies should increase tariffs, even when electricity supply has not been improved. Amadi doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with crazy estimated bills, and the reluctance of electricity companies to issue metres months after consumers had made payment, folks in rural communities that were fortunate to be connected to the electricity grid pay through their ass to settle ‘bulk electricity bills’.
In a bid to save its face, the lower chamber of the national assembly had to summon NERC to appear before its relevant committees to explain the reasons behind the new hike in electricity tariffs, the NLC has just woken from its slumber to kick against the hike. But, why did they have to wait to intervene after electricity companies had gone ahead with their hike in tariffs. Even the purported removal of fixed charges has been seen by consumers to be a scam, because their December bills still carry fixed charges, inclusive of the new ranges of tariff hike. For instance consumers in Promise City Mian-Uyo Urban under Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED district still cough out N700 as fixed charge in addition to the new electricity tariffs , further investigations revealed that under the estimated billing regime, the new electricity tariffs range from N5,600-N8,650 for a two bedroom -three bedroom apartment respectively at the rate of N11.06Kwh, N9.60Kwh, and N13.05Kwh for various classes of residential buildings. Commercial consumers will have to pay N21.76Kwh for their electricity consumption form month to month.
The NCC, NAFDAC, CPC, SON, NIS, DPR, PPRA and similar regulatory institutions have equally not helped matters, as consumers have continually been made victims of fake and substandard products. Unfortunately, these agencies also expect consumers to act as regulatory agencies themselves, they demand consumers to be vigilant, responsive and alert in reporting observable breaches to law enforcement and regulatory agencies, what a burden to impose on consumers by agencies that have failed in their statutory functions.
It is a sad commentary to observe that instead of standing up for the consumers, the various regulatory agencies in our country have tended to offer cover for service providers to fleece unsuspecting consumers, if it weren’t so, how come electricity companies were yet to implement critical components of the purchase agreement with regards to fixing new transformers in areas where old transformers can no longer function, overhauling of distribution lines, changing of broken electric poles, how come consumers still pay fixed electricity charges, how come telecoms companies have refused to obey NCC rules and directives on unsolicited text messages, drop calls, the recent NCC-MTN saga is clear pointer to how consumers were being taken for granted by service providers, how come DStv would at its whims increase subscription charges even with their poor receptions, how come you still find “tokunbo” tyres in our markets, how come our markets were still being floored with substandard electrical products and generating sets, how come consumers still queue at fuel stations to buy petrol at prices far above approved pump prices.
It wouldn’t serve any purpose if the only reason regulatory agencies exist is to act as revenue collection agents for the government without regards to the interest of consumers, at the end of it all, the agencies should by now realize that like it is usually said, the man that urinates at the upper end of the stream should know that his family members might be among those fetching water at the lower end of the stream. Like they say, the customer is always right, and regulatory agencies must act to ensure that the rights of the customers are guaranteed by taking appropriate steps to whip service providers to adhere to the various rules and regulations that guide their operations.
The Nigerian consumer is a sovereign customer that should not be made to suffer unnecessary pains and agonies in his bid to get services. It was about time service providers no longer take consumers for granted, let the regulatory agencies sit up.
According to the Chairman of NERC, Dr Sam Amadi: “This is good news for electricity consumers who have long asked for a more just and fair pricing of electricity.
“The regulatory commission had promised to address all the complaints against fixed charges through a regulatory process that promotes investments in the electricity industry without unfairly burdening electricity consumers.
“This is in line with NERC’s mandate to be fair in all its regulatory interventions.”
Although, the new tariff regime comes with an increase in energy charges, all electricity consumers (residential and commercial) will no longer pay fixed charges.
“Their total bills will depend on the electricity they actually consume and may be reduced when they conserve electricity.”
Their energy charge will increase by N9.60kwh.
These consumers will see an increase of N11.05/kwh and N9.26/kwh respectively in their energy
The new tariff is also good news for commercial consumers.
For example, commercial customers’ classification C2 in Ibadan and Enugu will no longer pays fixed charges of N17, 010. and N22, 141.
Their energy charge will increase by N12.08kwh and N13.35kwh respectively.
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