Kota Kinabalu: A 40-year-old woman was fined RM20,000 or six months’ jail for fraudulently obstructing a single-phase meter belonging to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SE) from properly recording electricity consumption caused SE undercharging and suffering losses.
Noralam Datu Batul pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain, to the charge against her.
She was found to have fraudulently obstructed the single-phase meter from properly recording electricity consumption by installing a 10cm bypass cable at the back of the meter terminal, resulting in SE undercharging and suffering losses.
Noralam who is the owner of 19 Nineteen Mart, committed the offence at 9.45am onJan 23 this year at the premises in Taman Nice, Kampung Kobusak, Penampang.
She was charged under Subsection 61(3)(a) of the Electricity Supply Enactment 2024, and may be punishable under subsection 61(3)(ii) of the same Enactment carries a fine of between RM20,000 and RM1milion, or a jail term of up to five years, on conviction.
On the said day an integrated operations team comprising ECOS officers and SE technicians conducted an inspection to prevent electricity theft at the premises known as 19 Nineteen Mart, located in Kampung Kobusak, Penampang.
The electricity supply to the premises was provided through an account registered under the name of Homeguard Security System Sdn. Bhd., with a single-phase electricity meter.
The physical inspection of the single-phase electricity meter installation found several irregularities, including the absence of a meter seal and security sticker on the terminal cover and Cut Out Fuse.
Investigation revealed that a black bypass cable with length 10 centimetres was found illegally installed behind the meter terminal which caused electricity to flow directly to the premises without passing through the meter’s internal metering system for recording.
The court heard that a meter accuracy test was conducted at the premises by the SE team using a calibrated standard testing device (Portable Meter Test Set).
The test results confirmed that the electricity meter recorded an average accuracy error of 73.622 per cent. The extremely high error percentage (slow) technically confirmed that the electricity meter had been interfered with to prevent it from recording the actual electricity consumption used by the commercial premises.
The 10-centimetre bypass cable and the single-phase electricity meter were removed and seized by the ECOS team as exhibits for further investigation and a new electricity meter was also installed at the premises to replace the tampered meter.
As a result of the meter tampering, SE had suffered revenue losses for the period from Oct 23, 2024 to Jan 22 this year and the total revenue loss claim imposed on Noralam was RM10,648.02.
Noralam paid the fine.
Prosecuting Officer Andryero Thomas from the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECOS) appeared for the prosecution while counsel Azhier Farhan Arisin defended Noralam.
