The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has sanctioned 11 electricity distribution companies due to failure to comply with billing regulations.

The sanctions were announced in a statement released on Friday, which detailed that the distribution companies, yet unnamed, violated a NERC order from 2020 which aimed to ensure fairness in billings for unmetered customers, according to the commission’s review of 2023 activities.

The review revealed multiple instances of discrepancies and non-compliance with monthly energy caps set by NERC, prompting the commission to take decisive measures to protect unmetered customers from “arbitrary billing.”

“A review of the Electricity Distribution Companies (“DisCos”) billing of unmetered customers for 2023 has revealed non-compliance with the monthly energy caps issued by the Commission,” the statement read.

The sanctions imposed by the commission on the erring distribution companies, per provisions of Section 34(1)(d) of the Electricity Act 2023, include a provision of credit adjustments to all unmetered customers who were overcharged between January and September 2023 by the billing cycle in March 2024.

“DisCos have been directed to publish the list of credit adjustment beneficiaries in two national dailies and on their website no later than 31 March 2024.

“Regulatory Sanctions: The Commission shall deduct a sum of 10,505,286,072 from the annual allowed revenues of the eleven (11) DisCos during the next tariff review to deter future non-compliance with the energy caps approved by the Commission,” the statement added.