The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered power distribution companies (Discos) to deploy customer engagement platforms within the next three months.
The directive, which takes effect on September 1, 2023, aims to improve the resolution of customer complaints.
NERC said the order was issued after conducting town hall meetings and public consultations and reviewing reports of electricity customer complaints. The meetings and consultations revealed that customers are dissatisfied with the resolution rate of complaints filed with Discos.
To address this, NERC said it will deploy a call centre to improve the rate of resolution of complaints. The call centre will also provide an additional avenue for monitoring Discos’ service quality and delivery to their customers.
Read also NERC urges electricity consumers to update their meters to avoid deactivation
NERC said a consultant had been engaged to deploy the call centre. The commission also noted that Discos that have already deployed call centres must ensure that their infrastructure and specifications meet NERC’s requirements.
All Discos are expected to have full-featured customer engagement platforms that integrate seamlessly with the system deployed by NERC.
The directive comes amid growing dissatisfaction with the performance of Discos in Nigeria. Customers have complained about poor service quality, including frequent power outages and billing errors.
NERC’s order is seen as a way to improve the relationship between Discos and their customers. The commission hopes deploying customer engagement platforms will help resolve complaints more quickly and efficiently.
The Discos expects to bear the cost of deploying customer engagement platforms, while NERC said it will monitor the order’s implementation to ensure Discos comply.
The order is the latest in a series of measures NERC took to improve the performance of the power sector in Nigeria.
The government hopes that deploying customer engagement platforms will help improve the sector’s performance and make it more efficient.
