N200,000 fine for meter tampering -NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has imposed a N200,000 fine on customers who tamper or bypass electricity meters in their premises.

The Commission in a new order posted on its website authorised electricity distribution companies to impose an administrative charge of N200,000 on maximum-demand customers for first offence and N300,000 on subsequent offences.

For non-maximum demand residential customers, NERC imposed a N100,000 fine for first offenders and N150,000 for subsequent offences.

The Commission also ordered DisCos to charge a reconnection fee of N10,000 for non-maximum demand customers and N50,000 for maximum demand customers.

The Commission stated that for any DisCo that fails to reconnect a customer after payment has been made, such utility must “assume responsibility for compensating customer(s) for delayed reconnection costs in cases where failure to reconnect the customer occurs beyond 48 hours subsequent to the payment of reconnection costs and administrative charges related to unauthorized access to electricity, as stipulated under section 26 (1) and (2) of CPR 2023.

“Distribution Companies shall be held accountable for remunerating customers for delayed reconnection costs in situations where unjustifiable disconnection of the customer(s) has taken place”.