PHCN Meter maintenance fees and fixed charge

What is the essence of paying a maintenance charge on an item that is never maintained?
I got a single phase pre-paid meter in May this year and due to the erratic and epileptic nature of power supply in my area (Araromi Extension, ifako-gbagada), a recharge of 5,000 naira has lasted me over 7 months and still counting. This is a far cry from the 2,500 - 4,000 Naira range i paid monthly on the analogue meter. Good news for me right ?


However i went to the PHCN office to recharge my account on saturday 19/11/2011 and discovered that i had to pay a monthly meter maintenance charge of 250 naira monthly for all the months that I have not recharged.

This is simply not acceptable. How do i pay a maintenance charge monthly for a meter that has NEVER been checked in 7 months?
How do i pay a back log of charges for months when I did not need to recharge since I still had units on my metere ?
What moral justification does the government have to collect such fees in the first place ?




The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), announced recently that distribution companies should stop the collection of meter maintenance fee, consumers of electricity would heave a sigh of relief when paying electricity bills from November ending 2011. We still await the implementation. Since it's been declared illegal, a refund should not be out of place !
We all know that In Nigeria, criminal acts are simply given a slap on the wrist: You've stolen enough, go away and sin no more!

Initially, PHCN were were pleading with us to buy the Pre-Paid Meter but as soon as they realised that their source of illegal income (reconnection fees) will disappear, the Meters suddenly began to disappear and became scarce. It easier to go through the eye of a needle than to buy a prepaid meter from PHCN.


There is another fee called 'fixed charge' which is also another form of extortion. I am yet to get details