PHCN sets up monitoring team to check abuse of meters

The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has set up a market monitoring team to check customers who are bypassing pre-paid and analogue meters, Pekun Adeyanju, Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs Division of PHCN, said on Tuesday in Lagos. He said that some consumers were bypassing their meters. ``They will not connect electrical appliances that consume more power like pumping machine, pressing iron and air-condition to pre-paid meters. At the end of the month, such a customer will pay less because the pre-paid meter has been tampered with,” he said. According to him, each monitoring team is set up to check pre-paid meters in the zone and is directly under the supervision of the business unit in the different units. ``Any customer found guilty of bypassing pre-paid meter or adjusting the analogue meter will be invited to the business unit. If found guilty of this offence, the customer will be asked to pay N50, 000 fine within three days. Failure to pay the fine, the customer will be charged to court,’’ he said. Adeyanju urged consumers to always report any staff of PHCN who demanded money from them to write-off their bills to the business manager of their unit. He advised them to allow officials of PHCN to do their lawful duties anytime they visited their compound. Adeyanju promised that PHCN would continue to serve them better and stressed the need for consumers to always pay their bills promptly