Ikeja, Eko DisCos dragged to court over failure to cap estimated billing of customers

Ikeja Electric

A group known as the All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum (AECPF) has filed a suit before an Ikeja High Court over the failure of Ikeja Electric and Eko Electricity Distribution Company to implement the order capping estimated billing of some of their customers.

A copy of the suit filed on July 12 was obtained by the news media on Monday.

The originating summons filed by the group’s lawyer Olalekan Matti is supported by a 25-paragraph affidavit deposed to by its national secretary Kehinde Akinloye-Jones.

The claimant alleged that the defendants had failed to comply with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) order on capping of unmetered residential 2 and commercial 1 electricity customers.

The group claimed both DisCos failed to comply with the capping order NO/NERC/197/2020 for a period of 10 months from February 2020 to November 2020 to the consumers affected by the capping order.

The claimant asked the court to determine whether it was within the power of DisCos to disobey the directives of NERC pursuant to section 63(1) of Electric Power Section Reform Act 2005.

They also asked the court for a declaration that the act of the first and second defendants’ violation of the capping method was unlawful.

The group also asked the court for an order directing the defendants to refund the consumers affected by unlawful billing for the period of 10 months under a repealed estimation billing instead of capping.

The claimant further asked the court to direct the defendants to pay the sum of N500, 000 for the cost of the suit.

The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge.