Households urged to check their electricity meters after complaints

July 15, 2014 | 09:37

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Electricity officials in Vietnam have called on households to keep a close watch on their electricity meters following recent complaints about sudden rises in bills.

Many Hanoians complain of sudden rises in their electricity bills

The issue was addressed at the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s press conference on the afternoon of July 7, after hundreds of households in Hanoi's inner districts complained that their bills doubled or more in June. Meanwhile, some households on the outskirts of the city actually saw a drop in prices.

Nguyen Quang Trung, Deputy Director of EVN Hanoi, said they have inspected those cases and even checked the workings of some of the meters.

“We will reissue bills for any cases where we find valid mistakes while we are gathering information on household power consumption," Trung said.

They claimed that initial inspections showed that EVN had not made any mistakes and that most customers were satisfied.

Hoang Anh, an official from EVN Hanoi, attributed the sharp increases in households’ electricity bills in June to the recent heat waves which drove up consumption.

She added that the company recorded an increase of between 40% and 60% in power consumption in June compared to May.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Do Thang Hai, said that the ministry would float not only electricity but also petroleum prices in the near future.

Dinh The Phuc, Deputy Director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, called on the public to closely supervise operations of electricity measuring units, especially their household electricity meters to ensure bills accurately reflect use.

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