The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has said that revenue targets by power distribution companies are set based on the electricity consumption of consumers.
ANED, which is the umbrella body for the Discos, argued that it was wrong to claim that Discos extort electricity consumers due to their high revenue targets.
Executive Director of ANED, Research and Advocacy, Sunday Oduntan, said in a statement that bills issued to power users were a reflection of their energy consumption.
He said, “One of the allegations that are gaining grounds of late is that Disco marketers are given revenue targets and it is in their quest to meet these targets that they supposedly ‘extort’ customers and give bills that do not reflect electricity consumption.
“What is being discussed here are what should be rightly termed ‘receivables’. This is money earned by the Disco based on the energy consumed.”
He explained that Discos set commercial, operations, technical, and customer service targets for their staff.
“The commercial targets in our case are specific and based on what has been consumed. Setting targets does not mean conjuring figures to meet those targets. We go out to collect what is owed. That is legitimate.
“Distribution transformers are metered, so we always know the value of electricity that passed through the distribution transformer to the customers in an area. It is empirical,” Oduntan said.
Speaking on the complaints by customers concerning electricity workers seeking bribes in the course of providing services, Oduntan said, “As for the claims of bribe seeking and giving, our policies remain the same as with any legal entity doing business in Nigeria.
“We do not condone corruption and urge any customer who requests for a legitimate service and is asked to pay a bribe to promptly report such an incident as well as the staff in question through our customer service platforms and the regulator’s complaint channels.”
