Below are the Top 7 provisions of the law that protects your rights as an Electricity consumer in Nigeria:
#1: You are entitled to a 14-Day Grace Period To Pay Your Bills
By law, you are entitled to at least 14 days between the date you receive your Electricity bill and the date when you are to pay that bill.
#2: You Are Entitled To A Written Prior Notice of Disconnection
By law, your Electricity Distribution Company must give you a written notice of disconnection before it can disconnect you for non-payment of your bill
#3: You Have a 90-Day Grace Period Before Disconnection
After giving you a Notice of Disconnection, your Electricity Distribution Company must wait for at least 90 days from the date of giving you the notice before it can legally disconnect you,
#4: You are Entitled To Free Reconnection if Illegally Disconnected
If you are unlawfully disconnected, you can compel your Electricity Distribution Company to reconnect you without paying reconnection fee, and you can get this done without going to court.
#5: You are Entitled To Damages For Illegal Disconnection
If you are illegally disconnected, you are entitled to damages at a minimum of #1,000 per day to be paid by your Electricity Distribution Company for each day of disconnection till your power is restored.
#6: You Can Complain If Your rights Are Breached
There is an administrative body that meets in your city, or a city close to you, that monitors the activities of Electricity Distribution Companies and will compel them to respect your rights if they breach same.
#7: The Electricity Companies Probably Don’t Want You To Know These Rights
If you are not ware of these rights, then you, like so many others, are the victim of a conspiracy of silence by the Electricity Distribution Companies, who have been statutorily mandated to carry out regular public awareness campaigns on these and other consumer rights within their franchise area.
But there is now a solution at hand. An online platform www.nepawahala.ng
has been created to educate power consumers of their rights under the reformed power sector in Nigeria. Not only that, if you have suffered from any breach of your rights, you can get *free help* on that platform to enforce your rights.
