The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has fined 8 power distribution companies (DisCos) a total of N628m for not complying with an estimated bill for customers who do not use meter(Unmetered).

According to a statement on Thursday by the NERC, the list of companies include; Abuja, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, and Yola.

The statement indicated that the mentioned companies violated the energy caps which the regulator had set for Q3 2024 (July to September) and therefore, were being sanctioned according to Section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act of 2023.

Additionally, the commission noted that the companies are being sanctioned n628m — 5% the naira value of the gross overbilling during the period under review.

“The public may recall that in 2020, the Commission issued the Order on Capping of Estimated Bills (Order No: NERC/197/2020) and subsequently issued monthly energy caps which aimed to align the estimated bills for unmetered customers with the measured consumption of metered customers on the same supply feeder.

“A review of DisCos’ billing of unmetered customers for July – September 2024 (2024/Q3) revealed non-compliance with the monthly energy caps issued by the Commission,” the statement read.

Reaffirming its commitment to protecting electricity consumers in Nigeria, the commission mandated the DisCos companies to pay what it called ‘commensurate credit adjustments’ to the customers who were affected between May 15 2024 to end of the April 2025 billing cycle.

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