https://nairametrics.com/2021/11/12/court-orders-abuja-disco-to-pay-a-customer-n10million-for-illegal-disconnection-of-prepaid-meter/.


An Abuja High Court has ordered the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Plc. (AEDC) to pay a customer, Ifeyinwa Ikeatuegwu the sum of N10 million for unlawful disconnection of her prepaid metre.

Justice K.N Ogbonnaya made this ruling in Abuja on Friday, December 11, 2020, following a suit filed against AEDC by Ikechukwu Ikogwe, the plaintiff’s counsel on her behalf.

In her ruling, Justice Ogbonnaya ordered the defendant (AEDC) to pay the plaintiff the sum of N10 million as exemplary and punitive damage for illegally disconnecting her electricity without due notice. She also ordered AEDC to pay the plaintiff the sum of one thousand naira daily until the day AEDC reconnects her electricity supply.

What you should know
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is an independent regulatory body with authority for the regulation of the electric power industry in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s customer service standards of performance for distribution companies 2007, exempt prepaid metres from routine checks.

Tampering with an electricity metre is a criminal offence.

The law governing connection and disconnection of electricity supply is the Nigerian electricity regulatory Commission’s connection and disconnection procedures for electricity services 2007.

The law stipulates that before disconnecting a customer, you have to issue a notice for at least 10 days. And whenever a distribution company disconnects electricity supply to a customer’s premises they shall leave a written notice of disconnection advising the customer the following:

The date and time of disconnection
The reason for disconnection
The action to be taken by the customer to have the electricity supply reconnected; and
The contact address and telephone number of the distribution company.
By Regulation 10 sub-regulation (2) NERC’s customers’ service standard of performance for Distribution Companies 2007, AEDC and its officials are not legally enabled or empowered to check, touch, Reed, and fiddle prepayment metres of customers.
Regulation 10 (1) states that: “ Every Distribution company SHALL obtain through its authorised representative an actual reading of all metres in all supply address within its areas of supply every month but not later than once in every three months.
However Regulation 10 (2) (b) states that “The provision of sub-regulation 1 of this shall be inapplicable where the customer has a prepayment metre.”