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The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) may have broken the hearts of many Nigerians who had been rejoicing over the 50 per cent tariff reduction recently announced.
The Commission said on Friday that the reduction does not include residential customers.
This was disclosed by Sam Amadi, chairman of NERC, who gave the clarification at a meeting with members of the Electricity Consumer Association of Nigeria.
Two weeks ago, NERC announced the reduction in tariff by 50 per cent following complaints from customers who rejected the increase that was announced in January.
Amadi said the January increase affected industrial, commercial and high-end residential consumers only. He said most people in the R1 and R2 categories were to begin paying increased tariffs from July 1, 2015.
He said: “Majority of the residential customers in the R2 and R1 categories did not experience the January 1, 2015 increase in tariff. They will not also see any reduction in tariff unlike the industrial, commercial and high-end residential consumers whose tariffs were increased.
“We have always tried to listen to complaints from consumers and operators alike and we carry out tariff reviews when necessary. We are a responsive and accountable regulator. It was a reduction based on the impact collection loss had on the tariff.”
Amadi explained further that the tariff reduction for the industrial, commercial and high-end residential electricity customers (R3 consumers), would become effective from this March.
He said the reduction was a decision reached in line with the commission’s business rules in response to protests from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on the implication of the January 1, 2015 increase on their businesses, adding that there was merit in the argument put forward by MAN.