Residents allege foul play in PHCN billing

Residents of Tijani Balogun Street, Unity Estate Zone 2, Egbeda, Lagos, have accused the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Akowonjo Business Unit, of imposing exorbitant bills on them.

PUNCH Metro learnt that about 60 per cent of residents on the street were given bills of N10, 790 each for September.

It was gathered that the bills were distributed to them barely one week after their faulty transformer was replaced.

A resident, Omolola Oresanwo, on Wednesday said she was still wondering how the PHCN came about the amount levied many of them on the street.

She said, “I don’t know if the flat rate they levied on us is meant to foot the bill of the newly installed transformer. PHCN should come out and tell us if that is what those bills are meant for.

“I don’t have problems with paying bills, but this current bill does not reflect my electricity consumption. It’s rather unfair on us if we are being made to pay for what we don’t consume.”

Another resident, Olayemi Ogundola, said he had never paid more than N2, 000 as electricity bill before.

He said, “Our transformer had a fault in mid-September and there was blackout in the community for three weeks which extended to the first week of October.

“But they brought a bill of N10, 790 as current charges for September. When I made enquiries from my neighbours on the street, I realised that many of them too were billed a flat rate of N10, 790. Something is definitely wrong somewhere and this should be addressed.”

Juliana Oloyede, who has a pre-paid metre in the area, said she also, received the bill of N10, 790. She said since she did not use a post-paid metre she ought not to have been given bill.

She said, “It is the height of fraud to be bringing bill to a customer on pre-paid metre. I had wanted to disregard the bill but when I noticed that I wasn’t the only one affected,  I realised that we might be indirectly paying for the new transformer.

“Even for those on post-paid, is it possible for all of them to use the same rate of N10, 790 for a month? Our fear now is that if we all refuse to pay they might disconnect the whole street from the transformer.”

When contacted, the Public Affairs Officer, PHCN Akowonjo Business Unit, Mrs. Ijeoma Ezeolisah, said the bills were based on consumption and not for installation of a new transformer.

She said, “We bill based on what we read from our consumers’ meters. However, from my findings, some of those who are complaining had issues with their meters. Their meters are coded and not working while the meters of some of them might be probably inaccessible to marketers who read them. 

 “When such happens, what we do is to bill them based on the reading we get from the feeder supplying the area.”

On pre-paid meter customers, who also received similar bills, Ezeolisah said such customers need to furnish the PHCN office with their documents and clear themselves.

The Punch