Sharjah: Residents, arriving back from their summer vacation, have been shocked to find that their electricity bills have more than doubled — despite a power cut last month, which left much of the emirate without power for days.
"I was on holiday in Egypt for a month and when I came back here I had to pay the electricity bill for Dh1,000, even though I usually pay Dh500 at the most," said Ahmad Mansoon.
Mansoon is not alone and dozens of other residents spoke to Gulf News about how they faced the same problem of an increased electricity bill for July. Bill increases ranged from Dh100 to as much as Dh700.
Audio: Feyaza Khan reports on Sharjah Residents being billed doubled for electricity despite power cuts last month
* Audio supplied by Radio 2
Double bills explained
One resident explained that he also had to pay his bill twice — once before he went on his annual leave, and then again during his holiday, which a friend paid on his behalf.
"I usually pay a bill of Dh350 and when the power cuts started I assumed that the bill would have actually been lower. But no, I got charged Dh770 instead, despite having no power for four days in a row," said Manish.
The power cut, which occurred last month had the biggest impact on populated residential areas, such as Al Nahda, Al Wahda, Al Majjarah, Al Qasimia, Al Rolla and Abu Shagara, in addition to some industrial areas.
Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa), in response attributed the cuts to a, "sudden glitch in a natural gas pipeline" which feeds the main power station, prompting Sewa to deal with the emergency by cutting the power for hours in some districts. The company apologised to consumers after the power cuts took place. Residents, throughout the week, queued up outside Sewa offices for an explanation of the increase in charges but left without answers.
Sewa would not comment on the matter, despite repeated attempts to contact them.
Have you received an inflated bill for the time you were without power? Did you pay the bill? Or raise it with Sewa? Did you get a response?
