Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) today clarified that the surge in the bills of consumers as reported in the media lately was due to the tampering of meters by irresponsible quarters.

“We wish to clarify that in 15 of the 19 reports on high backdated bills in the media (January-July 2011) were cases where we have strong evidence to believe that tampering of meters had taken place and most cases involved repeat offenders,” it said.

It said TNB records also showed the involvement of commercial users in most cases of thefts which not only caused TNB to lose revenue but also affected honest consumers.

TNB also wished to inform that it had never supported any product or equipment which disturbed meter-reading, and any involvement in the matter was regarded as stealing electricity, which is an offence under the Electricity Supply Act 1990.

TNB also gave its assurance to consumers that not all the inaccurate readings recorded by old meters were caused by power theft.

    

For cases which had been proven to involve electricity theft, TNB said it would send bills (to the account holder) for previous usage.

“For such cases, the calculations of backdated bills is done by monitoring the pattern of usage for a specific period to decide the time when a drastic drop in use was recorded.

“Consumers having proof of low usage are encouraged to discuss with TNB, and if it is proven that there are no meter-tamperings involved, no penalty would be imposed,” it said.

It said TNB would normally invite consumers to discuss in 14 days from the days a notice was issued, but many opt not to do so, and would only comply after receiving a legal notice.

TNB also urged the public to report any electricity theft by contacting its hotline: 1-300-88-5454.

- Bernama