TPJ looks into Rp 5,000 billing error

JAKARTA: British tap water company Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ) has admitted the possibility of human error in a billing dispute that prompted a customer to file a police report against the company on Monday.

TPJ spokesman Rhamses Simanjuntak said the company was investigating the matter and that the process could take time, considering that the billing dispute occurred in January 2000.

Harun Al Rashyid, a professor of administrative law at the University of Indonesia, filed an official complaint over the alleged "misappropriation" of Rp 5,000 (about 56 US cents).

Harun's lawyer, JJ Amstrong Sembiring, said that in January 2000 the company fined Harun Rp 5,000 for late payment of his November 1999 water bill.

The lawyer said Harun paid the fine but later found that he had paid the bill on time. Harun then sent a letter to the company asking that he be refunded the Rp 5,000, but never received a response.

"We will need time to complete the investigation, including tracking the complaint records that we have," Rhamses said. --JP