Shoplot owner ordered to pay TNB RM26,000 for ‘undercharged’ electricity bill

2026-03-25 - 06:00

Judge Noorhisham Jaafar held Choo Lee Chen liable as the unit owner, saying that she and Tenaga Nasional Bhd had a contractual relationship regarding electricity supply. KLANG: The sessions court here has ordered a shoplot owner to pay Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) more than RM26,000 for an “undercharged” electricity bill. TNB filed the suit against Choo Lee Chen in 2024 over claims of irregular electricity usage, contending it was due to Bitcoin mining. Officers from the utility company inspected the shoplot in Kota Bayu Emas Pendamar, Port Klang, in July 2020. They discovered that the meter had been tampered with, with wiring from the incoming supply isolator bypassing the meter to a distribution box. Choo said she rented her shoplot to a company, and argued that the tenant was responsible for electricity usage. TNB however sought to recover RM61,310.05 from Choo for underpaid electricity bills. Judge Noorhisham Jaafar granted TNB RM26,146.70 after clarifying the calculation. In the court’s judgment, Noorhisham held Choo liable as the unit owner, saying that she and TNB had a contractual relationship regarding electricity supply. “As a matter of general principle, contractual and statutory obligations under the Electricity Supply Act attach to the registered consumer unless and until the account is lawfully transferred or terminated,” he added. Noorhisham also noted that the tenant moved out in April 2019, about a year before TNB conducted the inspection in mid-2020. “The former tenant or representatives were never called to testify, nor was any documentary material produced to the court to substantiate the tenancy arrangement beyond the agreement (which ended in 2019),” he said. Noorhisham said Choo took no discernible action against the firm after the tenant left. “No police report was lodged, no civil proceedings were initiated, and no notice of breach or other contemporaneous documentary action was produced. “To my mind, such inaction sits uneasily with the stance now adopted in these proceedings, particularly given that vacant possession was already returned to her more than a year before the inspection,” he said.