KUALA LUMPUR: The total amount of unpaid electricity bills nationwide has surged to over RM1bil as of September this year from RM945mil last year.
This year's arrears involved 627,491 accounts whose supply has been disconnected, according to statistics from Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).
Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, said this figure had increased compared to 2023, which recorded 464,076 accounts disconnected with arrears amounting to over RM945mil.
"Based on the data, the number of accounts and the amount of outstanding electricity bills involved in supply disconnection continues to rise.
"This indicates that the issue of delayed payments is becoming more severe," he said in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Nov 26).
He said this in reply to a question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) on the number of electricity supply disconnections by TNB as well as the arrears by state and user category from 2023 to September 2024.
Akmal said among the factors for delayed payments are users' financial constraints, irresponsible behavior such as registering accounts under names other than the premises' owners, and prioritising electricity bill payments last.
“Cases of 'running away' are also a major reason, alongside users who only list TNB payments as their last priority,” he added.
He said the five states with the highest arrears in 2023 were Selangor, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang, and Negri Sembilan.
In 2024, Selangor continued to record the highest arrears, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Johor, and Terengganu.
