IBEDC Loses Over N130m To 15,000 Illicit Meters In Osun

 

Yusuf Oketola

THE Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has said it was losing an average of N130m revenue to the use of illicit meters by some residents of the State of Osun.

IBEDC stated that about 15,000 illicit meters exist in its network across the state which resulted in the gross revenue loss.

Speaking at a Stakeholders’ Townhall Meeting in Osogbo on Wednesday, IBEDC Regional Head for Osun, Engr. Oluwatoyin Akinyosoye, said the company had stopped the installation of the illicit meters, which uses card to load electricity since 2013.

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Akinyosoye said: “In Osun region, conservatively, we have about 15,000 of these illicit meters in our network and the average revenue loss every month due to this is over N130 million.

“These meters consume energy and the revenue is not coming to us. That is a huge loss. If we can curb these illicit meters, we know that we can plunge back the revenue to our purse to serve our customers better.

“These illicit meters were gotten through the backdoor, unknown to us till now. Most of these meters are the ones that you have to use a card for before you can load.

“As a company, we stopped the installation of these type of meters since 2013. So, any other one installed between 2013 till now are illicit meters”.

Akinyosoye urged those using the meters to come forward to address the issue, warning that those who failed to do so will face the wrath of the law.

“The message we have for those using the illicit meters is for them to come to our office to inform us about it and we assure them that we will only remove the meter and advise them on the steps to take to get a meter legally. 

“But if we catch any customer with the illicit metre, we will disconnect the customer, charged him or her for the used energy, and of course, face prosecution”, he added.