Some residents of Diobu have accused the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) of issuing adulterated bills with intent to swindle them.
The residents expressed surprise that PHED used pen to alter the amount to be paid by the residents on some of the October bills shared to residents.
One of the light bills sited by our reporter which was issued to one of the compounds at Mile 3 Diobu, Port Harcourt by the Silverbird branch of PHED had about four thousand, three hundred naira as the electronically generated bill to be paid by the compound and another thirty five thousand naira written with pen by PHED which, PHED was urging the compound to pay as the actual light bill the compound consumed within the period.
Our correspondent sited other bills issued to some other compounds in the area which showed that PHED wrote the amount to be paid with pen which was in total variance with the amount on the electronically generated bill.
Checks by our correspondent also showed that the amount written with pen by PHED on the issued bills, was double the amount of electronically generated bill issued to some of the compounds.
Other residents told our correspondent that the action of PHED by using pen to alter the amount to be paid by compounds on the electronically generated bills had justified their claims that the electricity distribution company had been over billing the residents of the area despite the epileptic power supply.
Others alleged that the action of PHED using pen to alter the amount on the light bill issued to some compounds was fraudulent.
Livingstone Koko, PHED spokesperson, was yet to respond to text message sent to him by our reporter.
