Customers of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) are currently at daggers drawn with the company over the non-functionality of the older types of prepaid meters in their homes and business outlets which had made them unable to load units in the meters.
The customers also accused the company of alleged plans to replace the older, functioning meters with new ones that have been preloaded with debits such that when they are installed and the customers load units, they will not be able to have power supply until the debits are cleared.
Impact Nigeria News Online gathered from some of the customers on Friday and Saturday that they have lodged a series of complaints at the IBEDC offices in their localities but the problems remained unresolved.
One of them said he discovered that the monitor that he used to load his meter suddenly stopped functioning and all efforts to load his meter proved abortive, causing him and his family to spend four days without power supply to his home.
He said: “I have become a habitual visitor to the IBEDC in Ibadan to intimate them of the development. I was told that the only solution to the problem is the replacement of the Non STS meter with an STS compliant one.
“Even though the management of IBEDC is insisting that the meters are distributed at no cost, members of the public are paying between N90,000 and N150,000 aside the installation charge. The management of the IBEDC should beam its searchlight on the officials who are given the company bad names.
‘Also, some who have had the meters installed in their homes in my area said whenever they load credit in these meters, the credit goes off within one day and they later found out that the meters were preloaded with debits which wipe off their loaded credits.”
Another customer living at Wire and Cable area of Ibadan, Oyo State, disclosed that his MOJEC prepaid meter suddenly stopped working alongside the monitor he used to load credit into the meter, adding that when he got to the IBEDC office at D’Rovans area of Ring Road, he was told he will need to replace it.
“I have been in darkness for five days because I could not load the N10,000 worth of credit that I purchased. I was told I will need to replace the meter. However, the information I am hearing is that these new meters are preloaded with debits and I am reluctant to get them,” the customer said.
However, the IBEDC, in a flyer entitled Non STS Meter Replacement Scheme, stated that the replacement meter and its installation are free under this scheme. “Customers are not required to pay IBEDC staff installers or contractors for the exercise,” the flyer stated.
The flyer added: “Customers currently using Non-STS card meters within IBEDC’s franchise area are eligible for replacement under the scheme subject to verification.”
