Delinquent customers owe PLN Rp 1 trillion

Delinquent customers owe PLN Rp 1 trillion

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned electricity firm PT PLN said on Thursday
accumulated unpaid bills from customers had reached Rp 1 trillion
(about US$117 million).

"There are 600 customers nationwide who have not paid their
electricity bills, amounting to Rp 1 trillion. Some Rp 400
billion are from Jakarta," Sunggu Aritonang, PLN's commercial
director told reporters as reported by Antara.

The huge amount of unpaid bills has further strained the
company's cash flow, Sunggu added. The company is working to push
customers into settling their unpaid bills fast.

He said most customers were middle-class homeowners and
industrial customers.

PLN has around 30 million customers nationwide. Residential
customers make up the bulk of the number (93.5 percent) and
followed by business sector (3.9 percent). While industries make
up 0.2 percent.

The company, Sunggu said, has sent warning letters to
delinquent customers so they would pay their electricity bills on
time.

PLN will also take legal action if customers fail to pay their
bills after several warnings.

"We also warn them that we will cut electricity if they fail
to pay. If they want to have their electricity back, they have to
make a new application," Sunggu said.

According to Sunggu, there are some customers who has asked
for leniency in paying the bills. They argued they could not pay
the bills because they didn't have the money at present.

However, Sunggu said, PLN could not be too lenient because the
company needed the money.

The company has been struggling to recover from its financial
problems since the economic crisis in 1997. The company was dealt
series of crushing blows as a result of the sharp drop in the
rupiah against the U.S. dollar as operational costs and debts are
in dollar terms.

Since 1998, the company has remained in the red. It only made
a small profit of Rp 180 billion in 2001 before plunging into the
red again in the next year and posting a net loss of Rp 6.06
trillion.

PLN previously said it would not be able to make profit this
year following a decision by the government not to raise
electricity prices. At present, power rates average at Rp 574
kilowatt per hour, or 6.79 U.S. cents. PLN is hoping for an
increase to 7 U.S. cents in order to break even.