LABUAN: More than 24,000 domestic and commercial power consumers in this federal territory were caught off guard by their exorbitant electricity bills.
After missing three billing cycles, during the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from May until July, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) started conducting domestic and commercial power consumption assessment on this island last week.
Several consumers claimed their bill amount had almost quadrupled and was beyond their average monthly power usage.
Those who paid their bills monthly in May, June, July when the EMCO was in force are not badly affected but those who have been charged for the three months accumulated usage are now making queries through SESB social media platforms.
“My monthly electricity bill usually hovers around RM300, but, it has tripled this time…and with almost no income (due to the EMCO), I’m not sure how to settle this exorbitant amount,” said a resident, Mohd Nazir Azim.
A trader in the town centre, Raymond Lee Hui Teck who runs a kitchen appliances shop said the accumulated amount came to over RM7,000 while his average monthly bill amount had been about RM3,000.
“The shop was closed for three months due to the EMCO, but the bill amount was shocking…it is a financial burden when our business just resumed last week,” he said.
When contacted, SESB Labuan area manager Ir. Abd Affidz Abd Momin said the utility company was aware of the people’s grievances over the accumulated bill amount.
“We are forwarding the consumers’ request to our headquarters in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to allow for instalment payment and no additional deposit to be charged for the accumulated bills.
“No consumer should be charged more than the actual power consumption…if consumers have complaints over the assessment and adjustment of bills, and if there is a discrepancy on the bill they may approach our counter staff for an explanation, especially regarding bills with the E code which refers to estimation,” he said.
Affidz added that SESB Labuan was not granted approval by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to conduct power meter reading (except for maintenance works) during the movement restriction period and this had resulted in the bill accumulation. – Bernama