Benin Electricity Bans Employees from Collecting Cash for Payment

The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has officially prohibited its staff members from collecting cash payments from customers for electricity bills across its franchise states, which include Edo, Delta, Ondo, and Ekiti.

The announcement was made by the Managing Director of BEDC, Mr. Henry Ajagbawa, during a meeting with billing and payment agents in Benin.

Expansion of Payment Agents

Mr. Ajagbawa revealed that the company has broken the monopoly of having a single aggregator with 1,650 agents. In its place, BEDC has engaged an additional 11 aggregators and over 10,000 billing and payment agents across the four franchise states.

Clear Warning to Customers

“I do not understand why any customer will pay cash to any staff when we have advertised over and over again that people should not pay cash to them,” he said.

“BEDC does not collect cash. If you have to vend or pay bills, Paybeta is available for that purpose.

“If you pay cash to any staff and you do not have evidence of payment, it will not appear in your bill when we come for enumeration. And if it does not appear, it means you have not paid, and you will pay that money again. So, it does not make sense to pay money to anybody without collecting receipts.

“BEDC staff members have been banned from collecting cash from any customer. Anybody who pays cash to them is simply dashing them the money,” he added.

Commitment from Aggregators

The Managing Director called on the newly engaged aggregators to remain committed to the agreement by ensuring that agents are located closer to customers across all BEDC operation areas for convenience.

Metering Update

Mr. Ajagbawa also provided an update on the ongoing enumeration and metering process. He noted that enumeration has begun in government-reserved areas (GRA) in Benin, with approximately 8,000 meters set to be installed in those areas.

“We have the meters ready in our stores, while a similar event is also ongoing in Asaba, Delta. We are taking it step by step.

“We understand that we probably need about N100 billion to meter all our customers, but we don’t have that kind of money,” he added.

He further explained that the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) has a significant number of meters available for purchase by customers, and the money paid will be refunded to them through vending.

Pay your Electricity Bill on Paybeta.

Click HERE To Pay Now