Ikeja Electric Suspends Disconnection Of Electricity For Debt-Ridden Customers

Ikeja Electric (IE) has announced the suspension of all disconnection activities of non-paying customers for a period of two weeks effective April 1, due to the lockdown of Lagos State caused by COVID-19.

Mrs Folake Soetan, Acting Chief Executive Officer, made the announcement in a statement in Ikeja on Wednesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Sunday in a nationwide broadcast announced the 14 days lockdown Lagos State, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, from 11pm on March 30, as part of efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus.

Soetan said the suspension of the disconnection activities was to ensure that customers who could not afford to pay their March bills due to the closure would continue to enjoy supply until the stay at home order was lifted.
According to her, customers who wish to pay their bills can also do so using any of the DisCo’s designated online payment platforms.

She said: “Our prepaid customers can buy energy online using any of your preferred online banking or merchant platforms. You can also visit our website to purchase vending units.

“In line with treating our customer first, using technology now policy, our customer service representatives will be available to respond to all your complaints and inquiries in a prompt and professional manner.

“We will leverage our world-class communication tools online and via social media to attend to your complaints and inquiries while also increasing the turnaround time for resolution.

“All employees on essential services throughout this lockdown period are committed to ensuring that you get the best customer service and have been mandated to deliver in line with our processes and best practices.

“We, therefore, implore you to avoid giving any monetary inducement to any of our employees as we carry out the job of serving you better.

“At Ikeja Electric, the job is not done until it is done. It is our job to serve you.

“In carrying out their job, our trained engineers will deploy globally accepted safety procedures and practice social distancing, and all that is required to contain the spread of COVID-19.”

While urging IE’s customers to cautiously observe the stay at home order and other safety measures, she noted that defeating the pandemic requires a collective effort by all and sundry.

She said the DisCo was committed to ensuring that its customers enjoy steady and quality supply throughout the difficult period and beyond.

Soetan said: “We recognise the fact that electricity supply is critical to our ability to stay safe, clean and indoors.

“As one of the companies designated as essential services, we have put measures in place to ensure that our engineers and technicians are available to clear all forced and unforced outages, while also continuing with preventive maintenance programmes.

“We, therefore, solicit the support of customers to cooperate with our staff as they carry out their duties, while we restate our commitment to deliver a steady electricity supply in line with our allocation.” (NAN)