Kuching: DAP Sarawak Chairman Chong Chieng Jen has criticised Syarikat Sesco Berhad (SESCO) for shifting the burden of administrative failures onto ordinary citizens, saying the state-owned utility’s duty is to safeguard the basic living needs of the people, not impose the consequences of poor management.
Chong revealed that he assisted a shop tenant in Kuching who was wrongly charged RM4,690, the outstanding electricity bill of a former tenant.
“The victim had legally opened an electricity account under his own name on 1 October 2018, for a shop lot at the Seventh Mile area, and had a SESCO meter installed.
“However, SESCO forcibly transferred the large outstanding debt left by the former tenant directly into his account,” he said.
Chong explained that, outrageously, the date on his very first electricity bill was earlier than the account opening date.
“It is utterly baffling and absurd! He opened the SESCO account on 1 October 2018, yet SESCO charged him the former tenant’s arrears dated 15 September 2018,” Chong said.
According to Chong, although the victim immediately lodged a complaint with SESCO and was told to “ignore the bill as it did not concern him,” the reality was that the debt, despite not being caused by him, was never removed.
“Instead, it continued to linger in his account for a long period of time. Meanwhile, his actual monthly electricity usage amounted to only RM20 to RM30, which he paid in full every month.
“Until last year, SESCO began imposing a 10% late payment penalty each month on the victim in relation to the “former tenant’s arrears.” The penalty was only removed after the victim complained,” he said.
Chong added that, earlier this year, another 10% late payment penalty was imposed again.
“The issue has occurred repeatedly, leaving the new account holder exhausted from having to deal with it,” Chong said.
Chong stressed that the debtor responsible for the outstanding amount was clearly the former tenant and that SESCO had neither the right nor any justification to shift this responsibility onto a legitimate new account holder.
“If such a practice is allowed, today it is this shop; tomorrow, could the same old debt be transferred to another new account and another innocent person?
“Over time, no one would know where the debt originated, and in the end, it is always ordinary, innocent citizens who suffer and foot the bill,” he said.
He added that he has formally assisted the victim in submitting a written complaint to SESCO, demanding the immediate cancellation of all late payment penalties and the complete removal of the former tenant’s outstanding debt of approximately RM4,690 from the victim’s account.
He also urged the authorities to conduct a comprehensive review of the system to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
