How to Check Prepaid Meter Debt in Nigeria
How to check prepaid meter debt: If you live in Nigeria, then you know about using prepaid meter. A lot of people use prepaid meters in Nigeria, but what most of them fail to realize is that more often than not, people leave debts on their prepaid meters for other people. And if you are not smart enough to check the prepaid meter debt, you will be the one to pay for it.
This is why in this article, we will talk about how to check prepaid meter debt in Nigeria, so you do not fall victim to paying another person’s debt, especially if you just moved into a new apartment that someone else used to occupy.
If this looks like what you’re interested in, then stay with us.
What is a Prepaid Meter?
A prepaid meter is a type of electricity meter that allows electricity consumers to pay for electricity usage in advance. You pay for it before you use.
It is very different from traditional postpaid meters where electricity consumers receive their electricity bill at the end of a billing period, may be monthly.
Why Should You Check your Prepaid Meter Debt?
If you have a newly installed meter, it usually comes with a certain amount of units. These units are said to be “free”, but usually, they’re not. These supposedly free units are what you later pay for on your next recharge. So let’s say you want to make your first electricity unit purchase on your new meter, and you discover a debt, you shouldn’t be worried because it’s just payment for the electricity units that came with your new meter.
In some cases however, things may be different. You’ll see what I mean in a sec.
Usually, before a prepaid meter is issued, an apartment/house/building could be using an estimated billing system.
Estimated billing is a system where electricity consumers without meters are charged for electricity or electrical energy based on their previous usage, without considering the actual quantity of energy consumed. This calculation is done based off an estimate, and because it is an estimate, it is usually not correct or true to value. So most times, electricity users are required to pay far above what they consumed in a month.
Here’s a simpler explanation:
So when NEPA creates a new meter account for a building or apartment; from that day the account was created, it starts to count whether or not you actually receive a meter.
Let’s say you rent an apartment in December, but the landlord has created the meter account for the house you rented in January. What do you think would happen? It would have started counting since January.
Once the prepaid meter is issued, that debt is immediately transferred to the new prepaid meter. It could go as high as 500,000 naira depending on how long it took before getting the prepaid meter.
When people get prepaid meter debts, it is most likely from the estimated billing of previous residents. So except you want pay for what you did not use, you should check the prepaid meter debt before moving into that new apartment.
How to Check Prepaid Meter Debt in Nigeria
There are different ways to check prepaid meter debt in Nigeria. Since there are different electricity companies with different modes of operation, they will also have different methods for consumers to check their meter debt.
Just go to your prepaid electricity bill’s review order page and check the amount attached to the “Outstanding”, and you’ll see it displayed.
Also, BuyPower has a feature that allows you to see the exact amount of debt a meter has before you make payment. It is known as the BuyPower outstanding feature, and it displays the EXACT amount of debt a meter has before you buy it.
If during your transaction, you see 10,000 on the “outstanding” section, then it means that there is an outstanding debt of 10,000 naira on the meter.
Here’s how to check your prepaid meter debt in 4 easy steps:
- Log in to www.buypower.ng
- Input your phone number and select “Click here to buy electricity”
- Input your state, meter number, and the amount of electricity you want to purchase
- Look for “outstanding” on the review page
Whatever amount you see in that field is the outstanding debt on the meter at that time.
That’s it! Easy-peasy!
Conclusion
Nobody wants to pay for what they did not use, especially not in this economy. This is why you need to make sure you’re not clearing someone else’s debts, when you could have easily avoided it.
Many houses have meter debts that you might not be aware of, and if you eventually move into these types of houses, it becomes your problem. And we don’t want that, do we?
