Bringing energy to our lives

Review by Zalina Haron

Paid your bills yet? Imagine a night without electricity, no TV, no hi-fi, no cold drinks from the fridge... I think all of us would prefer to go to bed rather than stay awake in the dark, that is until we realise we cannot switch on the fan or air-conditioner. For Malaysians, this just goes to show how important Tenaga Nasional Berhad is to us.

TNB was established in September 1980 through a corporatisation and privatisation exercise by the Malaysian Government. The corporatisation is regulated through the Electricity Supply Department under the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts Malaysia. The move to transform the former government electricity utility, then known as the National Electricity Board (or Lembaga Letrik Negara LLN) into a private entity was highly successful because of TNB's unique position as a monopoly in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Peninsular Malaysia.

Although owned by a large number of shareholders, both national and international, the Malaysian Government through the Ministry of Finance continues to hold the majority stake.

Service quality is a top priority here at TNB. The customers section contains all we need to know about rates, services offered and how billing and payment may be made.

A tour of the website shows that besides supplying electricity to new customers, TNB also offers other services likes "Special packages for night lighting" (Provides personal safety to brighten up the surrounding area), COMPLAINT/ENQUIRY (where a customer can make a complaint or an enquiry to the TNB office where his/her account is maintained) and few more services like disconnection and reconnection of supply.

Something nice about the TNB website is the range of slogans available. Each time we click to a different section of the website and when we go back to "HOME" the slogan will change and also the picture in the background.

One of the slogans that I like the most and I agree with is "Committed To Customer Satisfaction'.

Through this site, we also get the TNB Autopay programme where you can request to pay your bill using autodebit facility through your Visa credit card. Just enrol through the website and your electricity bills will be automatically debited every month. This is very good for people who are very busy and lazy.

The TNB website also has useful links to various ministries and government departments plus useful news sites.

Surf to the TNB site and you will get to learn more about TNB and the people who bring energy to your daily lives. The important thing is to hope that TNB will keep up with its good job and, please, don't increase the bills!