Enugu Coalition of Business and Professional Associations (ECOBPA) has appealed to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to provide pre-paid meters to check rising cost of doing business in South-East of Nigeria.
Emeka Okereke, Co-ordinator of ECOBPA, made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday.
Okereke noted that estimated billing system had increased the cost of doing business in the state as well as the entire South-East.
“The EEDC should provide pre-paid meters to customers and operators of business outfits.
“This will curb over-billing of customers through estimated electricity tariff which seems a deliberate fraudulent means of extorting customers.
“Again, there should be effective monitoring of EEDC staff as most of the marketing/field staff do not go to take meters reading from customers but prefer to give estimated bill.
“The state government should give deadline for the supply of pre-paid metres to customers, failure by EEDC which will attract sanction from government,’’ he said.
According to him, although the issue of electricity is outside the jurisdiction of the state government, it could lend its voice to the advocacy on tariff control.
The coordinator urged the state government to also do so to ensure improved power supply and provision of pre-paid meters to consumers to improve business activities in the state.
Wale Adesola, who operates tailoring business in Uwani, in Enugu, said that his greatest undoing in running his business was not epileptic power supply.
According to him, the problem is that of crazy estimated electricity bill that rose to over 400 per cent in October.
“I was paying between 3,500 and 4,000 each month previously, but my last bill in October was N15, 600.
“How can a struggling youth and artisan like me cope with such an EEDC payment,’’ he said.
