The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says electricity consumers are not required to pay directly for the meters issued to them.

This is contained in a statement issued by NERC on Monday.

“We wish to reiterate that the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), designed to provide all consumers of electricity with meters, is a policy intervention of the federal government supported by the Central Bank (CBN) concessionary loans to Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

“This laudable initiative is still very much on course as a total of over 900, 000 units of meters have so far been installed under the takeoff scheme without any payment by benefiting consumers.

“While this doesn’t cover many of the unmetered customers, we are pleased to inform electricity consumers that the next phase, under which about four million units of meters would be procured from local meter manufacturers, has commenced,” it said.

“Pending the conclusion of the NMMP, procurement processes and the commencement of manufacturing and installation, consumers may elect to acquire a meter from the Meter Asset Programme (MAP).

NERC said that the regulatory framework approved by the commission under MAP-NMMP regulation provides for refund of the cost of meter through energy credits to the customer at the time of vending.

The commission said that the recently issued notice by the commission on the adjusted cost of the meter was designed to protect consumers from arbitrary pricing by MAP.

According to NERC, this is in the context of recent changes in macroeconomic parameters affecting the cost of production.

NERC advised that clarification be made from its Public Affairs Department on any regulatory matter to avoid misinforming innocent consumers.