KUCHING, 16 June: Sarawak Energy Berhad has clarified that electricity bills issued in June reflect adjustments for actual electricity consumed for the relevant period, following three months of estimated readings as a result of suspension of actual meter readings due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
According to the energy provider in a press statement, meter reading and bill delivery services from March 18 to May 11 were suspended, resulting in bills issued for March, April and May to be based on estimated consumption.
With the resumption of meter reading services, bills issued in June show actual instead of estimated electricity consumption.
Sarawak Energy’s general manager for retail Ng Shou Fui pointed out that during the MCO, most bills for the months of March, April and May were based on estimated consumption, calculated using the customers’ usage pattern before the MCO period.
According to Ng, the estimated bill amount based on usage patterns prior to MCO was generally less than the actual electricity consumption during MCO. After actual meter readings were taken in June, the bill amount included the underestimated amounts billed for the months of March, April and May resulting in higher bills for June.
“Over the MCO, the estimated readings may lead to underestimation as electricity usage from domestic customers increased during the period because of the sudden change in our daily routine. For many households, instead of leaving the house vacant while at school or at work, householders were at home fully utilising all the electrical appliances such as air-conditioning, the television or even the oven,” said Ng.
Customers concerned over their estimated readings may rectify the situation by taking a snapshot of their meter readings and sending it to Sarawak Energy.
“We urge our customers with any concerns about their bills to reach out to our customer service executives at our Customer Care Centres. The amount can be easily corrected by providing us with the actual meter readings. Just take a photo of the readings on the meter and our team will do a recalculation. The amended bills will be emailed to customers,” Ng explained.
Customers may submit their actual reading to Sarawak Energy’s customer service centres, via email to Customer Care Centre at customercare@sarawakenergy.com or through Sarawak Energy’s mobile application ‘SEB cares’ which may be downloaded via Google Play Store or Apple App Store or via https://sebcares.sarawakenergy.com.my.
Sarawak Energy Customer Care executives are also attending to customers’ enquiries regarding discounted amounts on their tax invoices or bills following the introduction of electricity discounts under the Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) and Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance Package to cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under both government funded packages, all eligible account holders from the domestic, commercial and industrial categories will have their electricity bills automatically discounted according to their entitled discount rates of between five to 25 per cent. The discounts are provided for six months beginning with electricity consumption from April until September 2020. — DayakDaily
