Fined for allegedly tampering with meter

Fined for tampering with meter

I rented an apartment in Sharjah in October 2015, and only brought my family to the UAE in April 2016. I used to pay all the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) bills online. My bill used to be between Dh200 to Dh280 every month.

In October 2016, Sewa has put a penalty of Dh10,000 on my account. When I enquired with Sewa, they said the meter reading was less, due to cross connection, and they showed me pictures of the wire connection in the meter.

I was not even aware about where the meter room is located in the building. Additionally, it is always locked, and the key is under the control of the building officer or security guard. The Sewa official also showed me a print-out of the past two years of Sewa bills for the building. In those bills, it was clear that the meter started falling short of its reading in 2014, whereas I rented the apartment only much later, in 2015.

I explained all of the above to the Sewa officer and he told me to write a letter, asking for the fine to be removed. Now, I am waiting for a response to this letter from Sewa. I have all the necessary documents to prove that I am not involved in this issue, and the official at Sewa agrees with me.

From Mr Thangaraj J.

Sharjah

Editor’s note: The reader’s complaint was forwarded to the management of Sewa for comments. However, despite repeated reminders, they failed to respond.

(Process initiation: November 15. Process completion: December 15.)

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.