DISPUTING ARREARS: Lai (left) shows his claim at the Consumer Claims Tribunal. He is accompanied by his counsel Chong Chieng Jen.
KUCHING: A 46-year-old contractor yesterday filed a complaint in the Consumer Claims Tribunal against Sesco for allegedly unfairly charging arrears on his electricity bill.
Lai Jin Ngit claimed Sesco had imposed the unfair arrears after a faulty meter was found at his previous house in Tabuan Desa.
In his claim, Lai said power consumption at the house was usually around RM100, but from January 2011, he noticed there was a drop between RM20 and RM40.
Suspecting the electricity meter was faulty, he notified Sesco for an inspection and was told the meter was running 80.6 per cent slower than normal.
Sesco subsequently charged him RM7,339.80 in arrears calculated on the assumption that the electricity meter was 80.6 per cent slower for the 36 months before April 2011, when the inspection was done.
Lai claimed the total was unfair as the electric bills only dropped between RM20 and RM40 per month from January until April 2011, after which the meter was replaced.
He said therefore the meter was only defective for four months and not the 36 months claimed by Sesco.
An appeal to Sesco was rejected.
In the claim, Lai added he had sold the house and needed to terminate the electricity account.
Sesco terminated the account on condition that he pay RM2,339.80 up front and subsequently 10 monthly instalments of RM500.
The arrears of RM5,000 was later transferred to his current electric bills.
Lai applied for a total claim amounting to RM1,925.96 as well as for the arrears of RM4,981.65 from the previous account to be cancelled.