By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) says of all the sectors regulated by it, the power sector remained the industry with the highest consumer complaints.
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, stated this at the FCCPC Electricity Consumer Complaint Resolution Platform for Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company which ended in Lagos last week.
A worried Irukera said most electricity consumers across the country are dissatisfied with the poor service delivery of the DisCos.
The FCCPC boss disclosed that the demonstration of huge investments and capital outlay in infrastructure development by the DisCos remained a step in the right direction but the inability to translate those investments into quality service delivery remained a cause for concern. He said consumer complaints are part of what should be expected in any business model but the inability of the DisCos to resolve those complaints in a transparent manner has been a reoccurring decimal.
Irukera said FCCPC has been able to resolve most consumer complaints brought to the agency’s attention. ‘‘But beyond the resolution of complaints, the Discos should be able to address the root causes of these complaints because if they are not addressed, we will keep moving in the same cycle and continue to deploy our energy on the same set of issues.
He lamented that majority of Nigerians don’t have access to the internet, especially those in the rural areas, thus making to the FCCPC to lodge their complaints nearly impossible.
The FCCPC CEO decried the attitude of the DisCos, saying they have been unable to sufficiently develop a standalone complaints resolution mechanism of framework to be sensitive and responsive to the plight of consumers in their day-to- day dealings with them.
