PETALING JAYA, July 23: PKR urged the Federal Government to appoint an independent body to investigate and review the current electricity tariff set by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) which is said to be high and burdens consumers.
Member of Parliament for Kelana Jaya, Wong Chen, said that investigation was necessary because the majority of consumers are affected due to the installation of new electronic meters which replaced the old analogue meter.
“TNB cannot give excuses and must allow an independent body to be appointed to examine and test the digital meters.
“The government can appoint this independent body, and so can the Energy Commission. This is because the meters belong to TNB, thus, permission from TNB is needed to open and investigate the meters.
“We also want stakeholders involved, including Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and BN, because this is an issue of the people,” he said in a press conference here today.
He said that PR has received many complaints from consumers about the issue where they stated their dissatisfaction.
He said, the reason given by TNB on the high electricity bills from their new meters stems from the old meter readings which were not accurate and totally unreasonable.
Subsequently, Wong said that PR has set up a special committee to investigate and highlight the issue which comprises of its Vice-President, Datuk Chua Jui Meng; Wangsa Maju Parliamentarian, Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong, Sri Andalas Parliamentarian, Dr Xavier Jayakumar and himself.
“The committee will launch a public campaign to emphasise the importance of transparency with relation to high electricity bills.
“We will also be launching a website next week for public involvement and a petition will be sent to TNB for this purpose,” he said, claiming that the people are willing to pay RM20 for the cost of inspection to obtain accurate meter readings.
Meanwhile, Chua said that the electricity tariffs incurred by the people currently are too high and immediate action needs to be taken to address this.
“It is a problem that burdens the people, businessmen and others. Almost every household experienced increases up to 100 percent, 200 percent or more.
“This committee will help the people for the reduction of the electricity tariff charges to a lower rate or close to the readings of the old meter,” he added.
