1. NIGERIAN ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION
OVERVIEW OF THE IT CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS HANDLING SYSTEM By
Dr. Tony Akah
General Manager, Government and Consumer Affairs

2. Outline Introduction Attributes of good service delivery
Overview of NERC’s Regulations on Customer Complaints Handling
Status quo and challenges of the existing complaints handling and reporting system
Objectives of the proposed IT complaint management system
Conclusion
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3. INTRODUCTION
Protecting the rights of consumers is essential to having safe, reliable, adequate and affordable electricity.
Collection, collation, analysis and mining of information from consumers and distribution companies are paramount to the protection of consumer rights.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) as the sector Regulator is mandated under Sections 32(c) and 80 (b) of the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) ACT 2005 to undertake that core responsibility.
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4. WHAT DOES THE CUSTOMER WANT?
Quality &
Reliability
Of Service
Accuracy
Of Bill
Easy Payment
Mechanism
CUSTOMER
Prompt
Complaint
Handling
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5. MANDATE OF THE GOVERNMENT & CONSUMER AFFAIRS DIVISION
The Government and Consumer Affairs Division (G&CA) articulates policies that would promote and protect the rights and interest of electricity consumers, the electricity service providers and facilitate the partnerships with stakeholders such as Government towards achieving the mandate of the Commission.
G&CA Roles in the Commission: To protect the rights and interests of electricity customers, electricity services providers as well as stakeholders e.g. Investors
To protect fairs returns to investors and operations
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6. Customer Service Standards
Provisions on Consumer Protection under the Electric Power Sector Reform (ESPR) Act 2005.
Section 80 (1) states that “The Commission shall develop, the following inter alia, instruments for Customer Protections:
Customer Service Standards
Customer Complaint Handling Standards and Procedures
Codes of practice for the provision of assistance to special needs customers, such as the blind or disabled, the elderly or severely ill;
Procedures for dealing with and assisting where necessary, customers who have difficulty in paying their bills (Power Consumer Assistance fund)
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7. NERC CUSTOMER COMPLAINT REDRESS MECHANISM
Customer Complaints Unit (CCU) of the Discos
The Forum
NERC
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10. Status Quo and challenges
Distribution companies (Discos) and the Forum offices send monthly collated complaints register/reports which contains details of complaints they handled the previous month.
Its in printed hard copy format and most times bulky.
Limited insights from the data.
Analyzing the data and making comparative analysis is cumbersome
Incidence of recycling and submission of previous reports do occur
Verification of the authenticity of the information submitted poses a problem
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11. Status Quo and challenges
Monitoring and benchmarking the Discos and Forum office performance is hindered
Cumbersome and not robust process for decision making
No real time mechanism to ensure prompt and effective intervention to severe complaints that require urgent attention
Irregular submission of the reports
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12. Objectives of the proposed it system
Ensures accuracy of information
Standardization of multiple data sources
Provides quantitative data for policy formulation
Enables NERC to have a real time complete picture of Discos and Forum offices complaint management
Robust reporting mechanism
Facilitates the benchmarking of the Discos and Forum offices
Reliable information portal for the electricity supply industry in Nigeria, especially on consumer related areas.
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13. Objectives of the proposed it system
Web-based system that allows the Commission to have access to the data from anywhere
Sms portal for consumers to submit information or inquire on status of their issues
Ability to send advance alerts to consumers on planned interruptions, adverse weather, energy saving tips, etc
Sms portal to send alert to key staff of the Commission through their mobile phones on severe complaints that require urgent attention
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14. Objectives of the proposed it system
In-bound, out-bound, and integrated contact management for prompt routing of issues/complaints
On-line and searchable knowledge base as a tool for training and proactive regulation
Data warehouse and business intelligence
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15. Website: www.nercng.org E-mail: info@nercng.org
THANK YOU
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