We refer to an article titled “$600 power bill shock” published in The Fiji Times on Tuesday July 25, 2017.
The FEA had received a complaint of a high bill for a FEA account from one of our customers, Ms Chaaya Singh. The FEA account in question was registered under the name of one Mr Ram Sewak Singh of Natabua in Lautoka since July 21, 1975.
Unfortunately, our meter readers were not able to access the meter that was installed at Mr Singh’s premises, from December 2016 to May 2017, thus the need for us to estimate the consumption. These estimations were based on the usage pattern registered for the same account previously, which was for an average monthly consumption of around 125 units per month.
Finally in June, 2017 our meter readers were able to get access to the meter and the accumulated normal reading was for 1989 units. Upon receipt of the bill, the current occupant at the premises, Ms Singh visited our Customer Care Centre in Lautoka with her query.
We explained to her that the previous bills were estimated (based on the previous occupant’s consumption) because FEA meter readers could not gain access to the FEA meters and that the current bill was derived from the actual consumption registered by the meter.
The customer was not satisfied with the explanation and FEA carried out tests on the meter to reconfirm that the meter was registering accurately.
The customer requested extended time for the settlement of the bill and was allowed two months to clear the bill. The customer agreed to this arrangement. However, the customer settled the full billed amount by Wednesday July 12, 2017.
We understand that Ms Singh moved into this premises in January, 2017. However, the account ownership was not transferred to her name. Therefore, the monthly consumption was under estimated based on the usage pattern of the previous occupants, hence the variance between the actual usage by Ms Singh and the estimated billed amount.
The account is now registered under the name of Susheel Kiran Singh since Friday, July 14, 2017.
We have been able to read the meter this month and the account has been billed accordingly based on normal reading.
We sincerely request The Fiji Times to ensure that they ascertain the facts rather than choosing to sensationalise the issue.
(Editor-in-chief: The Fiji Times sent copies of Ms Singh’s bills and questions to the FEA. The FEA was given an opportunity to respond to the allegations before the report was published. FEA responded saying they were aware of Ms Singh’s case and the issue had been resolved. This was part of the article.)