Olanrewaju said the current lockdown on the global economy as a result of the killer virus made it difficult for the Meter Access Providers handling importation of meters into the country to ship in the product.

“You will recall that last year, we signed on some Meter Access Providers. They were supposed to bridge the metering gap in the sector. But part of the challenges we are having is that in the whole world, the economy is on lockdown. They cannot even bring meters from China. You know that China is one of the major manufacturers of meters.

“That is a challenge for our Meter Access Providers. It is hindering them from meeting their obligations to customers. The effect of Coronavirus is felt in this regard. We all know that the Coronavirus is having economic implication on virtually all areas. So, our meter access providers that are importing meters cannot bring it in; there is nothing happening in China now, so to speak. So, we are praying that this Coronavirus pandemic is going to be over soon and then meters can come in”, Olanrewaju said.

The corporate communications head urged members of the public to be patient with the company stressing that Meter Accessing Providers services had not been cancelled, saying: “We are still on MAP. Please, just go through the process; once you pay, we are looking at 10days. Once you get to that point, you know that the onus is on us and the MAP to meet our customers.”

Olanrewaju added that the new Value Added Tax (VAT) regime of 7.5 per cent was also a big challenge that is mitigating against ease of metering within the company’s coverage areas. “This is another challenge to customers because they need to pay more. The price of meters have increased; we need to factor in the VAT.