The registered consumer is liable for revenue loss due to meter tampering, as established under the Electricity Supply Act 1990, irrespective of who tampered with the meter.

Nurul Asyifa Redzuan M:

Introduction

[1] The plaintiff has filed a claim against the defendant for loss of revenue amounting to RM60,904.60 together with interest and costs, due to tampering with the meter installation at the Defendant's premises located at No 192 Atas, Persiaran Komersial 10, Jalan Lintang Water Front 31100, Sg Siput (U), Perak (the premises) under ss 37(1), 37(3), 37(14) and/or s 38 of the Electricity Supply Act 1990 ( ESA 1990).

Background Facts

[2] The Plaintiff, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), is a licensee under the ESA 1990 and is the sole supplier of electrical power in Malaysia. The Plaintiff supplied electricity to the Defendant's premises under account no: 6225210264904719 upon an application made by the Defendant and subject to the tariff fixed by the Plaintiff, as agreed upon by the Defendant.

[3] On 11 April 2023, the Plaintiff, through an inspection team comprising SP1, SP2 and SP3, conducted an inspection at the premises and discovered direct connection wires from the sidewalk service wire bypassing the Plaintiff's meter for all three phases, namely red, blue, and yellow, as well as the neutral, connected directly to the premises. It was also found that a bitcoin machine was operating inside the premises.

[4] The tampering has caused the meter to be unable to record the actual usage of electricity supplied by the Plaintiff. The actual reading of the direct connection current values are as follows:

• Red phase 105.0 ampheres

• Yellow phase 123.0 ampheres

• Blue phase 104.0 ampheres

[5] The corrective work was subsequently carried out by the Plaintiff, during which the direct connection wires were cut and removed, and the meter installation was resealed.

[6] SP1 completed the inspection form (Exhibit P2), the meter installation inspection notice (Exhibit P3), the evidence collection notice (Exhibit P4), and the meter installation testing and inspection notice (Exhibit P5), and handed over Exhibits P3, P4 and P5 to the Defendant, who was present at the time.

[7] SP1 also filed a police report (Exhibit P7) concerning the tampering discovered during the inspection carried out on 11 April 2023.

[8] SP1 was assisted by SP2, who was assigned with taking photographs during the course of inspection, as documented in Exhibits P6 (1) to P6 (15).

[9] The recalculation conducted by SP4 and SP5 establishes that the Plaintiff incurred a revenue loss of RM60,904.64 for the period between 31 January 2023 and 11 April 2023. The date of 31 January 2023 was selected as the commencement date for the recalculation on the basis that there was a meter-tampering incident, after which the meter installation was rectified by the Plaintiff on that date. Furthermore, the daily and monthly usage graphs have shown consistently low readings from 31 January 2023 onwards.

[10] The Defendant disputed the Plaintiff's claim, pleading that the Defendant was not responsible for the revenue loss as alleged by the Plaintiff. For convenience, the relevant excerpts from the Amended Statement of Defence are reproduced below:

2. Merujuk kepada perenggan 2 Pernyataan Tuntutan:

(a) Defendan adalah tuan punya premis No 192 Atas, Persiaran Komersial 10, Jalan Lintang, Water Front, 31000 Sungai Siput (U), Perak sebuah rumah kedai ("Premis tersebut").

(b) Pada semua masa material, premis tersebut disewakan kepada seorang bernama ANG YOON LIM (No K/P: 900615-08-5615) yang beralamat di No 136, Kg Baru, Simpang, Perak, untuk tempoh 1 Januari 2022 hingga 31 Disember 2023. (selepas ini di rujuk sebagai "Penyewa").

(c) Defendan pula tinggal di rumahnya di No 18, Taman Sheik Tahir, 33000 Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

3. Defendan mengakui kandungan perenggan 3 Pernyataan Tuntutan.

4. Merujuk kepada kandungan perenggan 4, Defendan menegaskan bahawa bukan Defendan tetapi Penyewa yang telah membuat bayaran bagi bil-bil yang dikeluarkan oleh Plaintif.

5. Kandungan perenggan 5, adalah diluar pengetahuan Defendan dan meletakkan Plaintif dengan pembuktian yang kukuh dan seterus