The Role of Complaint Redress Mechanisms in the NESI

Complaint redressing is the process of providing remedy or compensation for a grievance or unfair situation. The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is plagued with numerous grievances, which are felt mainly by electricity customers. However, what is the role of complaint redress mechanisms in the NESI in placating electricity customers?

The NESI is composed of four main sub-sectors, including Generation Companies (GenCos), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Distribution Companies (DisCos) and the electricity customers. The DisCos are the closest to the customers of these four sub-sectors because these utilities distribute electricity to households and businesses under their franchise areas. According to the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) 2005, the DisCos are also responsible for retrieving the cost of electricity produced and consumed by customers. However, that is not the case.

The distribution sub-sector is faced with myriad challenges, the most pressing being the liquidity crisis due to DisCos’ inability to recover revenue from customers. This liquidity crisis ripples through other sectors of the NESI through the failure to pay gas suppliers, the lack of funds for maintaining and purchasing adequate transmission infrastructure, and the lack of meters, among others. These challenges affect the quality of power supply and exacerbate customers’ unwillingness to pay bills.

An option to break this vicious cycle is exploring the role of complaint redress mechanisms in the NESI. Often, customers have complaints ranging from the quality of the power supply they receive to faulty distribution infrastructure in their neighbourhoods. There are often complaints of overestimated bills for unmetered customers under the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) estimated billing methodology.

According to the NERC Customer Complaints Handling Standards and Procedures, all customer complaints must first be filed, written or oral, at the Customer Complaints Unit (CCU) of the respective DisCo. However, if a customer is dissatisfied with the resolution or the complaint has not been attended to after 15 days, the customer can then lodge a protest at the closest NERC forum office. If the customer is still dissatisfied, they can petition the NERC head office.

Despite NERC’s directive on complaints handling by the DisCos, numerous electricity customers are unaware of the available complaint redress mechanisms. Hence, customers can not place complaints through the appropriate channels and get resolutions. This puts a significant strain on DisCo-customer relationships in the NESI.

As mandated by NERC, DisCos are responsible for enlightening electricity customers on the available complaint redress mechanisms. This enlightenment can be in the form of printed pamphlets with CCU and forum office addresses made available to customers periodically. The DisCos are also mandated to notify customers on how to complain through traditional and social media.

If properly harnessed, the role of complaint redress mechanisms in the NESI will go a long way in mending the relationship between DisCos and electricity customers. Through this, customers will have a better understanding of the workings of the electricity sector, including tariff band, estimated billing methodology and the need for revenue recovery by the DisCos.

With more customer complaints being monitored and resolved, there will be an overall improvement across the Nigerian electricity value chain. Exploring the role of complaint redress mechanisms would help customers stay up-to-date and understand why things are happening the way they are in the industry.