Don’t pay for meter upgrade, Enugu DisCo tells customers

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc. has cautioned its customers in the South-East against falling victim to fraudsters in the name of prepaid metre upgrades.

The company stressed that the planned upgrade of Standard Transfer Specification prepaid meters in its network will be free of charge and at no cost to customers.

The Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, made this clarification in a statement on Thursday.

Ezeh said the caution became necessary because of information received by the company about the activities of some unscrupulous elements who are extorting unsuspecting customers in the name of upgrading their meters.

He said customers should not fall prey to these elements, as no customer will be charged any money to have his or her meter upgraded.

He said, “The process of the upgrade will be simply by punching into the meter the Key Change Tokens, which will be provided to the customers alongside the credit token when they go to recharge their meters.

“What we just did, as a matter of responsibility, was notify our customers of this exercise and appeal to them to ensure that their prepaid meters are upgraded before November 24, 2024.

“It will be recalled that earlier in the month, EEDC notified its customers that by November 24, 2024, all Standard Transfer Specification prepaid meters will cease to accept credit tokens, unless they are upgraded. An exercise that will affect all STS-compliant prepaid meters across the globe.

“Customers of EEDC are advised to ensure that their meters are upgraded before the set date of November 24, 2024, as meters not upgraded before the date will no longer accept new tokens, but they will still be working till the credit already loaded in them is used up.

“It is important to note that credit tokens purchased and not loaded onto the meters before the upgrade will become invalid after the upgrade.”

He added that EEDC appeals to its customers to remain calm, as adequate communication will be made on the process and modalities for the upgrade, while reiterating that the upgrade is free of charge and at no cost to customers.