Agencies promise not to cut power

Consumers have been assured their power will not be cut off immediately if they fail to pay their bills on time.

Electricity authorities also said there was no need for a cash deposit and would return money to people who had already paid deposits.

The news was announced by the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) yesterday.

Chaturong Suriyasasin, assistant to the MEA governor, said customers will be notified if they fail to pay the bill.

“It’s not like if you do not pay the bill by today the power will be cut off the next day,” he said.

The PEA tweeted the same notification process will be applied and said users do not need a deposit. This was to ease the hardship caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

People flocked to PEA and MEA offices, and others rushed to register online for refunds of their deposits.

Demand was so high the computer systems of both agencies collapsed shortly after opening for money-back registration yesterday.

The agencies asked consumers not to rush, that they will only end up in crowded offices or be frustrated by heavy traffic causing delays on their websites.

The deposit rate varies, depending on the size of the meter which the user gets from the agencies.

The agencies will start paying the refunds later this month.