30pc increase? It’s fake news, says TNB

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has denied claims on social media that the government has instructed the utility company to increase electricity tariffs by 30 per cent.

TNB described the message, purportedly a directive issued by TNB’s board of directors, as “false and baseless”.

“The message, supposedly written by a TNB employee, is false and baseless. TNB does not have any employee as named in the message,” said TNB yesterday.

It added that electricity tariffs were set by the Energy Commission.

Titled “Catatan staff TNB” (notes from a TNB staff), the post was purportedly written by one Ahmad Fadhil Hanapi from Brickfields.

In the message, the writer said TNB had “no choice but to comply” with a directive from TNB’s board of directors, which received orders from the government to raise electricity tariffs by 30 per cent.

The writer alleged that the increase took place without the knowledge of consumers, and was made to cover bonus payments for civil servants and retirees.

This posting came in the wake of complaints of unusually high electricity bills, experienced by consumers over the past week.

On Tuesday, Energy, Science Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin said a technical error could be the possible cause.

Yeo said there was no change to the electricity tariff for May, but declined to go into details until the Energy Commission completed its probe.

“This month, there are 10 times more complaints, about 300 of them, (received by the commission, especially on unusually high bills).”

She said TNB was summoned by the commission on Tuesday for an explanation.

The Energy Commission has been given 14 days from Tuesday to conduct its probe into the complaints.

In a separate statement, TNB said it was committed to resolving the problem and addressing customers’ concerns about the sudden rise in the electricity bills.

“A comprehensive effort is taken by TNB to address this issue,” it said, adding that TNB continued to work closely with the Energy Commission in finding the best solution for customers.

It said TNB would ensure that every complaint was investigated thoroughly and take the necessary action, including refunding surplus charges.

“If it is proven that there have been cases of overcharge in the surplus charges, it will be credited back to the customer’s bill.”

It apologised to those affected by the sudden hike in surplus charges on their monthly utility bill.

Complaints were lodged via its TNB CareLine 1-300-88-5454 and Kedai Tenaga.