The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has mandated electricity distribution companies (Discos) to establish consumer engagement platforms.
The Discos are expected to set up the platform within the next three months, beginning from September 1, 2023.
The directive was contained in a document from NERC, with order number: NERC/2023/006, and titled, ‘Order on deployment of customer engagement platforms’ Punch reports.
The document reads: “This order shall take effect from September 1, 2023 and shall remain in force until amended or revoked by subsequent orders issued by the NERC.”
“The call centre will also provide an additional avenue for monitoring Discos’ service quality and delivery to their customers.
“The findings of preliminary investigations conducted revealed that some Discos were yet to deploy call centres and those that had deployed call centres had done so with infrastructure/specifications that failed to meet the requirements of the commission.”
The Discos expects to bear the cost of deploying customer engagement platforms, while NERC said it will monitor the order’s implementation to ensure Discos comply. “All Discos are expected to have full-featured customer engagement platforms that integrate seamlessly with the system deployed by the commission.”