Kota Kinabalu: Viral complaints over high electricity bills on social media are largely caused by outstanding payments, increased electricity consumption and meter tampering, rather than the recent tariff adjustment, said Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Ir Ts Mohd Yaakob Jaafar.
He said investigations into several viral cases found that many complaints were linked to unpaid bills, higher household electricity usage during the festive season and hot weather, as well as illegal meter bypass activities.
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Speaking at a press conference at Sabah Electricity office in Wisma KWSP, Tuesday, Mohd Yaakob said Sabah Electricity remained transparent and took every public complaint seriously, especially those raised on social media.
“We understand the concerns of our consumers when they suddenly see an increase in their electricity bills. As a responsible utility company, it is important for us to reach out to every complainant and investigate the issue thoroughly,” he said.
He said the company had earlier anticipated an increase in electricity bills following the tariff revision announced in February, which involved an average increase of 15 per cent across domestic, commercial and industrial categories.
According to him, Sabah Electricity had also expected higher consumption during the post-Hari Raya Aidilfitri billing cycle and due to rising temperatures experienced in April.
Mohd Yaakob revealed that from February until now, the company had officially recorded 77 complaints related to electricity bills out of more than 720,000 consumers in Sabah and Labuan.
“All complaints received have been addressed. We also monitor complaints raised on social media and engage directly with consumers through phone calls and messaging applications,” he said.
He explained that electricity consumption across Sabah and Labuan had increased significantly this year, with total usage reaching 618 gigawatt hours in April 2026 compared to the highest monthly record of 608 gigawatt hours last year.
“This shows that electricity usage has increased despite the tariff revision. The rise was especially obvious in April due to festive activities and hot weather conditions,” he said.
Mohd Yaakob said Sabah also recorded new maximum electricity demand levels several times in April, reaching 1,245 megawatts on April 27, surpassing last year’s peak of 1,221 megawatts.
He added that Sabah’s average temperature in April this year reached 28.1 degrees Celsius, equivalent to the hottest month recorded in May last year.
“The hotter weather has led to increased use of air conditioners, chillers and other electrical appliances in homes and offices,” he said.
Mohd Yaakob detailed several viral cases investigated by Sabah Electricity, including one involving a consumer from Tambunan whose bill rose due to three months of unpaid electricity charges.
He said the consumer later acknowledged the issue after discussions with Sabah Electricity and admitted the increase was caused by overlooked outstanding payments.
In another case in Semporna, he said a consumer complained after his bill increased from below RM200 to RM378 despite having no outstanding payments.
“Our inspection found the meter was functioning normally. We are now monitoring the consumer’s usage for three months to determine whether the increase was due to higher consumption or additional electrical appliances,” he said.
However, the most serious case involved alleged meter tampering detected at an apartment unit linked to a viral complaint claiming the consumer was “shocked” by a high electricity bill.
Mohd Yaakob said Sabah Electricity discovered the meter had been illegally bypassed during an inspection in February after detecting irregular readings.
He explained that a cable had been installed to divert part of the electricity flow away from the meter, causing only a portion of the actual usage to be recorded.
“When we removed the bypass cable and normalised the meter, the electricity bill naturally increased to reflect the actual usage. The registered account holder also owed about RM11,000 in unpaid electricity charges,” he said.
He described the social media posting as misleading because it failed to disclose that the premises involved was linked to electricity theft.
“This posting damaged Sabah Electricity’s reputation. We will proceed with a claim to recover losses and will also initiate defamation action against the individual responsible for the posting,” he said.
Mohd Yaakob disclosed that Sabah Electricity detected about 2,000 meter tampering cases from January to April this year, while throughout last year there were about 5,000 cases.
He said most cases involved domestic consumers, particularly in Sabah’s east coast districts, and warned that syndicates offering illegal meter tampering services were still active.
“There are individuals offering services claiming they can reduce electricity bills by tampering with meters. Consumers should not fall for such offers because if caught, Sabah Electricity can back-bill up to five years,” he said.
He added that two contractors arrested in Sandakan last December were currently being prosecuted by the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) for allegedly offering illegal meter tampering services.
Mohd Yaakob also clarified another viral complaint involving additional electricity deposit charges.
He explained that Sabah Electricity’s system automatically reviews consumer deposits every six months based on average electricity usage.
“If a consumer’s average usage increases but the deposit remains low, the system will automatically request an additional deposit in accordance with electricity supply regulations,” he said.
To improve public understanding, Mohd Yaakob said Sabah Electricity had upgraded its MySEB apps system to allow consumers to monitor their electricity usage trends, billing breakdowns and tariff categories more clearly.
He encouraged consumers with concerns over their bills to contact Sabah Electricity directly through its offices, the MySEB app or the company’s customer service hotline at 15444 instead of making assumptions on social media.
“We are open to all complaints and willing to investigate every genuine case. If there are mistakes on our side, we will correct them. If the issue is caused by high usage, we can also advise consumers on how to use electricity more efficiently,” he said.
