A cross section of electricity consumers in Umuahia have called on Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to streamline the processes of supplying pre-paid metres to its customers.
They made the call in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Wednesday.
The survey was based on the plans by government to increase the supply of pre-paid metres to electricity consumers nationwide.
Chief Boniface Okoro, a respondent, said the government should be committed to the policy to phase out post-paid metres by streamlining the way consumers could access the pre-paid metres.
Government should ensure that the pre-paid metres are supplied to PHCN offices in every part of the nation to enable every consumer to acquire the equipment.
In Umuahia, I do not know if there is anywhere the pre-paid metre is functioning because the PHCN officials want to continue with the estimation billing system, which they use to cheat electricity consumers,” he said.
According to Okoro if the pre-paid metres are made functional like the telecommunication Global System of Mobile communications cell phones, when your credit is exhausted you will not complain to anybody.
Okoro, who said he had lived in Umuahia for more than 10 years, noted that although electricity supply in the town had improved in the past one year, the ugly experience recorded by consumers was outrageous billings by PHCN.
Mr Nwaamara Chikwube, another resident, described the supply of pre-paid metres to every electricity consumer as a ‘welcome development’, noting that its advantages far out-weigh the disadvantages.
If every consumer gets the pre-paid metre, it will help to check undue wastage of power by most uninformed consumers.
Often times you will observe security lights shining in most public and private buildings in a broad day.
I feel if the pre-paid metre is in use people will be forced to learn what conservation of energy is all about.”
Chikwube, who commended the government for the introduction of the new bill system, noted that the move would help in production of goods especially in small-scale and medium scale production sub-sector.
Another respondent, Gospel Adiele, said the move would instil the economic consciousness of adequately managing the power sector in government and the masses.
He noted that if the pre-paid metres were supplied to every home, the PHCN would understand that the time was up for any form of fraudulent billing and ensure that its facilities became functional.
Mr Vincent Ekwekwu, the Business Manager of PHCN, Umuahia Unit, told NAN that only 208 out of more than 62,000 PHCN customers had the pre-paid metres in Umuahia.
Ekwekwu said that those with the pre-paid metres but had yet to complete the migration formalities would continue to receive post-paid bills.
He said although government recently announced plan to supply the pre-paid metres, the unit had yet to receive any consignment.
