The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has issued a public apology to customers who were mistakenly billed at the Band A tariff rate instead of Band B, following a system glitch, News About Nigeria reports.
In a circular posted on Thursday, the company acknowledged the error and attributed it to a technical malfunction in its billing system.
The glitch resulted in some customers being charged the new tariff rate of N225 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) instead of their appropriate Band B rate.
The incident occurred in the wake of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) recent adjustment of electricity tariffs for customers categorised under Band A, raising the rate from N65/kWh to N225/kWh.
However, the AEDC assured customers that the tariff hike would not affect those under other categories.
The circular from the AEDC stated, “We are aware of the wrong charges faced by some Band A customers who tried to recharge their meters following the new tariff regime. This was due to a system glitch caused by the reclassification of some Band A customers who have now been downgraded to Band B due to the number of hours of electricity supply enjoyed over the past few weeks.”
Furthermore, the company assured affected customers that all excess charges incurred due to the billing error would be promptly refunded.
It also clarified that customers who were previously billed at the Band A rate but have now been reclassified under Band B would be charged the correct tariff of N225/kWh going forward.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers during this change. We remain committed to improving the power supply to all categories of customers, and we crave your understanding and support as we do this,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Musliu Oseni, the Vice Chairman of NERC, confirmed the increase in electricity rates for customers in the Band A category.
According to Oseni, consumers in this category will now be charged N225/kWh, a rise from the previous N65 rate.
However, Oseni clarified that the rate increase would only affect less than 15% of the total customer population in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), in line with the commission’s guidelines.
