The Management of the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), has cautioned its clients against making payments for installation of prepaid meters.
It said customers within its network coverage in Bauchi, Gombe, Benue and Plateau should not make any form of payment for the installation as it was free of charge.
Mr Nasir Faskari, the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) desk officer, JEDC franchise area, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Jos, urged customers to report any of its personnel who asked for fees for the installation of the prepaid meter.
He further said the process of acquiring a meter with the company, entailed the opening of an account to register the client’s details.
“The procedure for acquiring meters doesn’t exceed 24 hours and it’s also free of charge.”
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According to him, the client need to have a licensed electrical contractor who wired the house to the fill the form, and stamp it to certify that the wiring of the house or structure is up to standard.
He pointed out that after the acquisition of the account with the company, the client is to subscribe to the Meter Asset Provider (MAP), a programme initiated by the Federal Government for customers who want to acquire meters.
The officer said that a customer obtaining a single-phased meter would pay N 88,000 only, while a customer acquiring a three-phased meter would pay N154,000 only.
According to him, the company in a bid to be more proactive, ensures that the customer gets the prepaid meter within three days after making payment as they are readily available..
He explained that the government had mandated the company to pay the customers for the meter, however, the company doesn’t give the clients the cash.
“We give the cash to customers in form of free energy tokens once every month, the customer vends until the N88,000 or N 154,000 is exhausted.”
Faskari stated that in the eventuality the meters and vending monitors a customer purchased under the MAP scheme spoilt from no fault of the customer, and fell within the warranty period of 10 to 12 years, the MAP would have the meter or monitor replaced immediately at no additional cost.
WikkiTimes, in one of its investigative reports, unveiled how JEDC consistently relinquished its role of fixing electric poles, transformers and cables to its customers in Bauchi; forcing them to bear the financial burden of sustaining power supply to communities contrary to regulatory provisions of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
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