consumers

PDP, Consumers Kick Against New Electricity Tariff Hike

January 6, 2020 12:35 pm

Electricity consumers yesterday kicked against a new regime of electricity tariff for the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) across the country, just as the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) rejected the hike.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the increase is draconian and against the interest of Nigerians.

Consequently, the party charged the Federal Government to immediately rescind the increase, which it described as “obnoxious and provocative”, and consult further with the citizens on the issue.

But, in a dramatic twist, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC) says no tariff increase has been approved by the …

FG Directs Discos To Stop Cash Payment From Consumers

January 2, 2020 12:12 pm

The federal government had regulated electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to utilise electronic platforms for the payment of energy bills across the country.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) declared the motility is to lessen the aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses the DisCos are battling with.

The commission asked the DisCos to leverage available banking channels approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure prudence in the utilization of market funds.

While the power firms have until January 31 to migrate industrial and commercial customers to their cashless electronic platforms, they have till March 31 to move …

Google To Offer Checking Accounts For Consumers – WSJ

November 13, 2019 5:10 pm

Alphabet Inc’s Google will offer checking accounts to customers starting next year in a finance push, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The project, named Cache, will have accounts by Citigroup Inc and a credit union at Stanford University, according to the report.

“Our approach is going to be to partner deeply with banks and the financial system,” Caesar Sengupta, general manager and vice-president of payments at Google, told the Journal in an interview.

Read Also: Why Slash On Data Subscription Rate May Take Time

“It may be the slightly longer path, but it’s more sustainable,” Sengupta was quoted …

Data: Saving Consumers From Operators And Regulators

November 12, 2019 3:43 am

The five-day ultimatum issued to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to tackle illegal deductions by telecom operators and reduce the price of data is a welcome development, though belated. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, rightly moved to rein in the telecom operators, having received a pinch of a biting reality. There is no doubt that the operators of our general system of mobile (GSM) telecommunication have pushed their luck too far and their greed too hard not to draw the anger of a responsible regulator.

Since the dawn of the 21st Century and attendant innovations in

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572,392 Consumers To Receive Meters In Four States

October 16, 2019 6:21 pm

No less than 572,392 consumers will receive meters within the next two years across BEDC Electricity Plc. (BEDC) franchise areas covering Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti state under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme. The breakdown according to BEDC, is as follows: Edo, 190,000 meters, Delta; 200,200 meters, Ekiti; 67,452 meters and Ondo; 114740 meters respectively.

Executive Director, Commercial, Abu Ejoor made this known during while unveiling the MAP scheme held across the coverage areas in Benin, Asaba, Ado-Ekiti and Akure, stressing that in taking off, MAP will initially have up to three months of build-up roll out, which …

Power Disco Uncovers 240,000 Illicit Consumers In Network

October 15, 2019 7:43 am

The Abuja electricity distribution company (Disco) which distributes electricity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nasarawa and parts of Niger states has reported that up to 240,000 people are illegally connected to its network and consuming electricity unlawfully.

The Disco also disclosed that in nine of the 32 areas of its network, where it has achieved over 80 percent metering penetration, it found that it loses up to 20 percent of its revenue from supplies made to the areas, indicating a prevalence of dishonest practices despite the availability of meter.

In a draft of its Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) …