Online petition urges govt to probe TNB over alleged ‘overcharging’ after switching to smart meters
Kenneth Tee
Malay Mail27 May 2019
An online petition has been launched to urge the government to intervene and probe national utility company TNB over mounting complaints from consumers that their monthly bills had soared drastically since converting to the smart meters. — Picture by Saw Siow FengMore
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — An online petition has been launched to urge the government to intervene and probe national utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) over mounting complaints from consumers that their monthly bills had soared drastically since converting to the smart meters.
The petition on change.org was created by Abdullah Fahim, a day after TNB posted on its Facebook page urging Smart Meter users to attend its Customer Day for clarifications and solutions over billing matter.
The petition claimed that elements of cheating arose after utility bills sent by TNB to consumers were delayed, resulting in higher charges due to TNB’s prorated calculations and tax imposed on each bill that burdened man consumers.
“We Malaysians are urging the Malaysian government to re-study the digital meter and calculations used by TNB for their consumers’ utility charges.
“Power cuts also frequently takes place when bills are overdue. We want the government to investigate all complaints immediately to reduce our burden,” the petition read.
The petition that was launched on Sunday has garnered more than 24,000 votes as of 4pm today.
TNB in an earlier statement had said that the Customer Day will be held from 8.30am to 4pm and was prepared to provide information as well as solutions including crediting overpayment if there was overcharging.
“TNB wants to reiterate that the smart meters installed in Malacca records accurate reading and are not the cause of bill hikes as claimed by some quarters on social media.
“Checks on some of the complaints found that the problem was due to mistakes during meter installation, old meters no longer efficient and did not record the right reading, tampering on the old meters and factors relating to billing,” the statement said.
Earlier this month, Melaka Chief Minister Adly Zahari said the state government had requested TNB to view each complaint lodged seriously and not to look at the general situation.
Adly’s remark follows TNB’s installation of its Smart Meter and increased public complaint on being overcharged.
TNB had then claimed that previous charges were low due to several factors, including meter tampering.
