PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has cut the power supply from 627,491 domestic and non-domestic accounts with arrears amounting to a whopping RM1,008,771,447.78.
Deputy Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the amount recorded until September this year has risen compared to the 464,076 accounts cut with an outstanding amount of RM945,435,794.07 in 2023.
During the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat, today, Akmal said action was taken based on the Electric Supply Act 1990 and the Supply Regulations of License Holders 1990 after using the approach of reminding and having discussions with the consumers.
He cited multiple reasons for delayed payments by consumers which include “financial constraints, irresponsibility, and negligence, where most registered user names are not the premises’ owners”.
Akmal also pointed out that certain consumers have a “pay TNB last attitude”, when it comes to settling the bills.
ALSO READ: TNB’s collaboration with authorities has led to a surge in detected meter tampering cases
“Based on the statistics, the five states with the highest number of accounts and outstanding payments for 2024 up until September are Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Johor, and Terengganu,“ Akmal told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question by Khoo Poay Tiong (PN-Kota Melaka) who asked about the case regarding TNB cutting off the electrical supply after consumers failed to pay their electric bills along with the outstanding amount recorded by state and consumer category.
Akmal also clarified that the immediate supply disconnection compared to the installation which takes between six to eight months is because of the corporation’s 30-day period and a 7-day notice period before disconnecting the electric supply.
ALSO READ: RM21,000 electricity bill shock for new homeowner
“We acknowledge that in some cases, outstanding payments may take months because TNB has discretion not to take immediate strict action, considering that the amount owed by an individual may not be significant.
“However, TNB is forced to take strict action against non-domestic users, as the outstanding amount may be large, especially in business transactions.
“When there is an outstanding payment issue, TNB tries to avoid disconnection because energy is considered a basic resource. That is why our advice to users is to deal with the Tenaga shop to negotiate in order to have the supply reconnected.
“As for those applying for new energy supply, each case is reviewed. If the application comes from an industry or Data Center, the application will be processed accordingly,“ he added.
