PLN meter readings 'often incorrect'
PLN meter readings 'often incorrect'
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned power company PT PLN has acknowledged that
electricity meter readings are often incorrect and give rise to
unreasonable bills. It plans to implement a new system, but has
warned that customers may face high bills as a result of arrears
and unpaid usage as a consequence.
"There will be a 'booming' of bills," Fahmi Mochtar, the
general manager of the firm's Jakarta and Tangerang branch, said
on Saturday.
It is public knowledge that meter readers often skip house
visits and simply estimate electricity usage.
Such abuses were discussed during a forum held by the
Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) together with PLN, the
Jakarta Public Lighting Agency, the city police, observers and
consumers.
Wardi Lubis, a resident of Kemang Pratama, Bekasi, said that
he only had to pay the monthly subscription fee in August, with
zero usage of electricity. "Suddenly the next month my bill was
Rp 914,000 (US$99.73)," said Lubis.
He produced several other bills showing that he paid Rp
219,000 in May, Rp 589,000 in June and Rp 160,000 in July. "How
can my bill fluctuate like this when my family always uses the
same amount of electricity?"
Fahmi said that during October, a bar code would be placed on
customers' meters. Starting November, officials would have to
scan the bar code before they could enter the electricity usage
figure into their Portable Data Entry (PDE) recorders.
"That way, they will have to go to the houses," he said.
Fahmi said that unprofessional meter readers were being
punished, with over 100 of them having been dismissed this year
up to September, Fahmi said.
A woman from the audience said that she found she had Rp 12
million in unpaid bills after her meter records were corrected.
Fabby Tumiwa of the Working Group on Power Sector
Restructuring, who attended the meeting, questioned which
electricity rates would be used in calculating unpaid usage,
considering that they had changed considerably over the past few
years.
"How far back can PLN charge customers for unpaid usage?" he
asked.
Fahmi said that if possible, different rates would be used in
calculating the cost of electricity bill arrears.
"They will be able to pay by installment," he added.
During the forum, the YLKI also reported its findings based on
input received during the so-called "electricity complaint
months", held from July to September. Blackouts, overly high
bills and incorrect meter readings topped the list of the 261
complaints the YLKI received, 126 of which were from Jakarta and
131 from Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok and Bogor.
The foundation urged PLN to improve its complaint response
system. "There are disparities between the responses to these
complaints depending on who filed them, to whom, and in which
forum," said Sudaryatmo of the YLKI.