SIBU, Dec 6: A house owner in Jalan Kiew Nan was caught by Sarawak Energy for tampering with the electricity meter.
Sarawak Energy in a statement today said that the owner of a semi-detached house was found stealing electricity during an operation carried out by Sarawak Energy’s meter inspection team, accompanied by the Electrical Inspectorate Unit (EIU) of the Ministry of Utilities and the auxiliary police.
“The house owner was under close surveillance by the utility company due to a history of meter tampering, and the raid was triggered by the surveillance results.
“The investigation revealed that a fake meter cover was used to mask the alteration of the meter’s mechanism, leading to an unrealistically low power consumption of RM60-70 recorded per month against actual consumption and the house owner had been previously charged for arrears amounting to RM5,600.00,” the statement said.
The tampered meter was seized for evidence, and a police report lodged for further investigation.
“The EIU and State Attorney General (SAG) will commence legal action against the house owner for stealing electricity under Section 33(5) of the Electricity Ordinance.
“Sarawak Energy is mandated to recover arrears or estimated unpaid amounts for up to 36 months from detection of theft by account holders and power theft is a crime which carries a penalty of RM100,000 and/or five years’ imprisonment if found guilty,” the statement said.
Sarawak Energy also pointed that it is also a dangerous act which endangers lives and damages customers’ properties including electrical appliances which may lead to fire.
“Sarawak Energy will continue to carry out meter inspections and investigation operations throughout Sarawak together with the Ministry of Utilities and the Police to curb this dangerous activity,” it said.
Sarawak Energy reminded customers not to trust any service providers claiming to be able to reduce electricity bills or enable premise owners enjoy limitless electricity through meter tampering as meter inspection teams are trained to detect tampered meters, including fake electricity meter covers as part of its efforts to curb power theft.
Sarawak Energy also appreciates the support from members of the public and encouraged the public to continue to report to Sarawak Energy on any power theft information, including details of power theft service providers via Sarawak Energy’s customer care centre at 1300-88-3111. All information obtained, will be kept strictly confidential. —DayakDaily.
