The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says it is illegal for a landlord to compel a new tenant to pay electricity bills owed by a previous tenant or the landlord.
NERC Commissioner, Finance and Management Services, Nathan Shatti, disclosed this on a live program streamed on the commission’s social media pages on Tuesday.
He disclosed that a court recently ruled the practice as illegal, and advised new tenants currently being compelled to pay such debts to contact the commission.
“Landlord’s outstanding electricity bills cannot be enforced on a tenant. A judge recently ruled that the bills of a previous tenant cannot be enforced on a new customer. Send us details if you are in such a situation,” Shatti stated.
Also, he revealed that new tenants who use their money to procure prepaid meters be refunded through a mechanism that the NERC would come up with.
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Shatti further disclosed that a court equally criminalised actions contrary to capping policy in the power sector.
Capping means that Distribution Companies (DisCOs) cannot charge unmetered customers more than they charge metered customers in any neighbourhood.
“An order was issued on capping in February. The capping order is still in force.
“DisCos should take note. The Commission is doing everything to enforce compliance. We will do even more,” the NERC commissioner said.
Similarly, he advised DisCos against obtaining monies to supply prepaid meters and failing to do so, describing it as “unacceptable behavior”.
Shatti said the DisCos had no business collecting monies to supply meters if they knew the meters were not available.
He called on customers who have paid monies to the DisCos without getting their prepaid meters to write the commission with details of the transaction for appropriate action.