The management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has warned consumers within its network against paying its personnel for prepaid metres and its installation.
Mr Isah Abdulrahman, the General Manager, North-West Region of the company, gave the warning on Wednesday, during a Customer Sensitisation and Interactive forum for residents of Bwari, Abuja.
Abdulrahman, who reiterated that the company’s prepaid metres were free, said that complaints have reached the company that some personnel were collecting money from consumers before installing the metres.
He said: “Last year, we started an initiative where we ask our customers to pay half of their bills before we give out the metres but people complained that we were collecting money for the metres and so we stopped.
” As it is now, prepaid metres are absolutely free; no more paying half of your bills.
” Also, do not at any point, give anybody money for installation, cable or transportation to personnel, all these have already been paid for.
” Please, relate to others and report any personnel who violates this policy or request for money,” he said.
Abdulrahman also urged consumers of electricity to report any form of vandalism of the company’s properties as well as consumers who do not pay for power supply but have acquired it illegally.
He said that it was the duty of residents, who pay their bills regularly, to assist the company monitor illegal reconnections after disconnections in their neighbourhood.
This, he said, would go a long way to sanitise the system.
He assured residents of the availability and wide distribution of the prepaid metres as soon as the company meets its funds challenge.
” Our desire is to have metres distributed to every consumer because that is the only way one can actually regulate and monitor usage.
” However, these metres are not manufactured in Nigeria and foreign exchange rate has been a challenge to us; the cost of one of these metres is quite high and makes it not affordable at the moment.
” I assure you that measures are being put in place to meet the challenge as well as increase power supply,” he said.
Some of the residents who expressed their agitations on the mode of operation of the company, suggested better ways to initiate smooth process of attending to the needs of consumers.
Mr Micheal Owolabi from Dutse-Makaranta advised the company to attend promptly to requests of transformer restoration and other challenges that costs lack of power supply.
He said that not doing so would not only cause residents to be in darkness but also affect the periodic remittance of payments made to the company.
Another resident, Mr Isaac Osa urged the company to ensure proper training of their staff while noting that some of the staff of the company lacked good customer relations, courtesy and manner.
He said: ” a good service provider should be able to attend to its customers in a civil manner and not as though they were ruffians.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting had in attendance, members of staff of the AEDC, Community Heads, representatives from corporate and commercial organisations among others. (NAN)
