Esther Oluku
As part of its efforts to mitigate customer complaints arising from estimated bills, Ikeja Electric has set up a Bill Dispute Resolution Panel (BDRP) across its undertaking offices to help expedite cases of disputed bills.
The panel, which comprises selected staff with expertise in the business operations and customer services, will meet with customers once in every month across its six business units to resolve persistent complaints arising from estimated billing. The panel will be empowered to resolve these cases expeditiously relying on company processes and regulatory requirements.
According to a statement issued by the company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, the idea of setting up the panel is to quickly and amicably resolve lingering service issues raised by customers
He explained: “in a service industry like the power sector, disputes occurring as a result of dissatisfaction from customers are inevitable. However, if inadequately managed, disputes can be bad for business and even go as far as negatively impacting on customers’ loyalty and business brand respectively. So, we understand that fact and we are doing the best within our control to manage our customers’ expectations”
“In line with our business objectives, we seek to be the provider of choice. Our customers need to be satisfied for us to be in business. The BDRP also enables customers plan their visits according to their itinerary since the panel sits for resolution once every month. This initiative is in addition to the daily attendance to customer complaints through the customer service channels and the IE offices across the network,” he explained.
Ofulue also pointed out that in addition to the newly introduced initiative, the company also recently launched the e-billing of Maximum Demand (MD) customers, a paperless and seamless billing technology aimed at providing MD customers easier option of receiving their monthly bills via sms, emails and subsequently the use of USSD and IE website”.
“Ikeja Electric continues in its quest for excellent service with innovations that reflects the company’s long-standing commitment to delivering practical solutions for customers,” he added.
