Kota Kinabalu: A 40-year-old businesswoman was fined RM20,000, in default six months’ jail, by the Sessions Court here for tampering with a Sabah Electricity (SE) meter to obstruct the proper recording of electricity consumption at her grocery store in Penampang.
Noralam Datu Batul pleaded guilty before Judge Hurman Hussain to committing the offence at 19 Nineteen Mart in Taman Nice, Kampung Kobusak, at 9.45am on Jan 23 this year.
The court heard that an integrated operation by Energy Commission of Sabah (Ecos) officers and SE technicians discovered a 10-centimetre bypass cable installed behind the terminal of the single-phase meter, allowing electricity to flow directly into the premises unrecorded.
A subsequent accuracy test using a calibrated portable device revealed an average error of 73.622 per cent, which caused undercharging and resulted in SE suffering RM10,648.02 in revenue losses between Oct 23, 2024 and Jan 22 this year.
Noralam, who paid the fine, was charged under Subsection 61(3)(a) of the Electricity Supply Enactment 2024, which is punishable under Subsection 61(3)(ii) of the same Enactment with a fine of between RM20,000 and RM1 million, or up to five years’ imprisonment.