FG mulls legislation to criminalise estimated billing system, says Fashola

Babatunde Fashola,the Minister of Power, Works and Housing on Monday said the Federal Government is considering pushing an executive bill that will criminalise estimated billing system in the country.

The Minister who made the disclosure in a communique issued at the end of the monthly power sector stakeholders meeting held in Kaduna said the move would gurantee investors and consumers confidence in the electricity sector.

Fashola confirmed further in the communique ‎that plans are underway by the Executive and the legislative arms of Government to operationalise the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) Regulation by leveraging on private sector experience to bridge the meteringf gap in the sector with N37Billion seed fund.

The meeting reiterated further the need for operators to be proactive in resolving issues which affect the quality of service during the rainy season in areas of repairs, maintenance and replacement of obsolete power infrastructure that will happen during adverse weather.

The Communiqué emphasized the need for the DisCos to regularly get weather information from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) to predict service disruption and frequently inform consumers on restoration plans and timelines.

The communique further expressed concern about reports of DisCos not connecting to completed Distribution Assets by NDPHC and REA on the grounds of difficulty in servicing the areas.

The meeting resolved that all DisCos should submit to NERC a list of the areas and communities within their franchise where they have difficulty in serving the customers and state the reasons in other to enable Government review and develop policies that will ensure service to these areas.

HARRISON EDEH, ABUJA