The House of Representatives has passed a bill seeking to
criminalise estimated billing in the country, among other things.
The lower legislative chamber passed the bill on Tuesday
after considering the report of its committee on power sector.
The report was adopted unanimously after Deputy Speaker of
the House, Yusuf Lasun, put it to a voice vote.
The bill aims to criminalise estimated billing and make the
installation of prepaid meters compulsory for all power consumers in Nigeria.
Bill estimation is a standard practice used by power
providers when an actual meter reading is not available for billing purposes.
Femi Gbajabiamila, sponsor of the bill and majority leader
of the house, had said it was not justifiable to continuously charge consumers
for power not consumed.
Opposition Against the Bill
Stakeholders in the power sector kicked against the bill at
a recent public hearing.
Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, the
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Association of
Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) had opposed the bill.
According to the stakeholders, the bill will worsen the
electricity situation in the country.
Fashola had said the bill could crumble the electricity
sector, noting that the financial challenges of metering must first be
addressed.
The minister had said: “I take it that we all know what core
mandate is. Their (Discos) core mandate is to supply energy. My view is that
let new players be licensed to have the supply of meters as their core mandate
to take the load off the DisCos.
“Energy theft and meter bypass must be addressed too by
prescribing heavy penalties against offenders.”
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