For failing to upgrade their prepaid meters, about three million electricity customers, may be forced into estimated billing or outright darkness, except there is a last-minute intervention. The upgrade started last year.
In the past 10 days, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has served constant reminders to Nigerians on the need to upgrade their meters.
A consumer group estimated that half of the 5,993,340 metered customers would be caught in the web of the government policy, with another group resolving that anybody who has not upgraded his meter until now should be one of those Nigerians who like to display lackadaisical attitudes towards government policies.
The NERC said in a post on its handles, “Have you updated your meter yet? From November 24, 2024, you may not be able to recharge your meter without updating. However, updating is easy and free.
“DisCos have already commenced issuance of two free Key Change Tokens which will update your meter.
“The update will not affect the units in your meter, nor will it make your meter run faster than usual. Contact your DisCo for more information.”
As the NERC continued to sensitise consumers to the meter update, most of the distribution companies appeared unbothered until the exercise elapsed on Sunday.
Earlier, the distribution companies in Lagos told their consumers that all Unistar meters would be phased out by November 14 2024 due to Token Identifier rollover.
Customers using Unistar meters were asked to pay for the replacement of their meters, sparking outrage from affected customers.
The Unistar meter producers denied claims that their meters are outdated. They stated that their meters utilising the card meter technology are fully upgradeable and compatible with the STS meter technology.
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