INTRO:
Gulf News readers reacted strongly to the report on Sharjah residents facing a substantial increase in their monthly utility bills over the summer months. Sharing their own experiences, readers raise concern over how their bills have doubled despite there being no change in usage. We received over 200 responses to the story. Here, we present a selection of their comments..
Trouble brewing
The report on high Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) bills is absolutely true (‘Sharjah residents complain about high Sewa bills,’ Gulf News, September 15). Some months, the price of electricity doubles and in other months, it is reasonable. This, despite our usage being the same. It has been happening for the past couple of years and I have no idea why. When we complain, they ask us to lodge a complaint and pay Dh100. Then a person is sent to check if the electricity meter is working correctly, which in itself seems to be another bogus.
From Mr Bony Sebastian
Sharjah
Helpless
I live in Al Ittihad Road, Sharjah. From the past few months, I have noticed a high Sewa billing amount, which I am unable to understand, because my consumption is the same. We are helpless at the moment.
From Mr Waseem
Sharjah
Full name withheld by request
Sudden increase
We live in Sharjah and we have also suddenly been left with the pain of high Sewa bills since July. We had a regular bill of Dh400-Dh450, but recently got a bill of Dh855. There is no way for us to understand what went wrong. We don’t know what to do and where to complain about the same. Also, is there any use in complaining?
From Mr Deepak Malani
Sharjah
Wrongly billed
I am a resident of Sharjah. I face the same experience of overcharging by Sewa. My last Sewa bill showed a consumption of 199 units of electricity and 475 units of water. As per the bill, the reading was taken on August 10, while the previous reading was taken on July 10. If the reading was taken on the dates mentioned in the invoice, it is impossible to have that much consumption during this period. The reason is because I went to India on vacation on July 10 and came back late during the night of August 10. When I left for vacation, I switched off the main switch. So, I assume that the information shown in the invoice is wrong. I have been trying to see the actual reading. I think it is incorrect.
From Mr Boby Varghese
Sharjah
Borrowing times
When I returned from my country after emergency leave, I put away some money for my Sewa bill. However, when I received the bill, I was shocked as it was twice the amount I had budgeted! So I had to borrow money from my flat owner to pay the bill, otherwise we would have had to sleep without water and electricity.
From Mr Rifaqat Rasool
Sharjah
Website comment
No saving grace
Surprisingly, last month my water and electricity bill doubled in comparison to the previous month. We do not use the air conditioner during the day time as we have an electric fan to keep us cool during the day. The thermostat is always set at 25 degrees Celsius at night, but I am surprised that last month, the electricity increased by twice as much compared to the previous months, despite the saving measures we have adopted in our home.
From Mr Silahis Plucena
Sharjah
Nothing new
I too am a victim of this shocking bill increase, wherein my water consumption has doubled compared to previous months. The finest part of the experience is that I was away on a short vacation of five days with my family during this time and we didn’t even use the water. While I was actually hoping for a smaller bill amount, to my dismay, it was twice what I paid in my last bill. Do we have an independent audit to check random bill samples at regular intervals in the interest of consumers? This is nothing new for Sharjah residents, since it seems to be happening at regular intervals. We are happy that Gulf News is bringing such irregularities to light, with the hope of finding a solution for end users.
From Mr Dorairajan Ravi
Sharjah
Mathematical mystery
I live in Sharjah and my electricity bill for the first five months of the year averaged at less than Dh600. For the past three months, it has gone up to Dh2,600. At this rate, my electricity will be about 28 per cent of my rent. The reading on my bill for August 12 was 3243 and on August 31, it was 3439. However, I have been charged for 7804 units. How they arrived at this figure is a mathematical mystery. They owe the consumers some real answers.
From Mr Ebrahim Adam
Sharjah
Website comment
Take action
We faced the same problem. Since everybody is facing it, I am sure there must be something wrong with the meter or something else. This matter should definitely be investigated, as hundreds of people cannot be lying.
From Mr Mital
Sharjah
Website comment
Refund needed
If we assume that bills have almost doubled due to increase in consumption, what is the justification for families who were in their home countries during these months? They also got huge bills. It could be due to some technical fault in the meters. Sewa should investigate and if they find a technical fault, then excess dues should be refunded to customers in subsequent bills. I am personally feeling helpless by paying this huge amount.
From Mr Mohammad Saeed
Sharjah
Website comment
Repeat phenomenon
Every year, from May to August, we get a steep rise in our utility bills even if we are on vacation or not. This is a common phenomenon in Sharjah and we have to accept it.
From Mr Rashid Abu Bakr
Sharjah
Website comment
Unfairly billed
My bill for August was almost twice that of previous months, although I have restricted my usage. Other tenants and the landlord have had a similar hike and they indicated that there is no use complaining. I am sure that the fault is absolutely not due to increased usage on behalf of the consumers. I hope that Sewa will look into this seriously.
From Mr Qasim
Sharjah
Website comment
Extra charge
I also faced the same issue. I received my Sewa bill of Dh1,000 for the month of August. When compared to the month of July, there is a Dh250 extra charge despite there being no extra usage. We used the same amount as in July – then why the extra cost?
From Mr Mohammad Yahya
Sharjah
Website comment
Excess payments
This is happening in Abu Dhabi also. I hope the authorities are aware about this and will take necessary precautions to avoid excess payments by the community.
From Mr Shahid
Abu Dhabi
Website comment
Wrong decision
This is a 100 per cent true. We are also suffering from the same billing problem in Sharjah. My business is in Dubai and in order to take advantage of low house rents, we moved homes to Sharjah. However, I think it was a wrong decision as we are now paying Sewa bills of Dh1,250 in one month, which is two-thirds more than it would cost in Dubai. We request the authorities to please do something about the high billing charges.
From Mr Mohammad Habibur Rahman
Dubai
Website comment
Impossible
We are facing the same issue. Usually, we get a bill of less than Dh400 a month, but this month, it increased to nearly Dh700. Only my husband and I live in our home. We are both working, and use the same amount of water, gas and electricity every month. So there is no extra consumption. We have already paid the bill because there is no use wasting time with a complaint. The answer Sewa has provided cannot be correct. The question is – if the same number of people has been living in the house and there is no extra consumption, then how was our past bill so high?
From Ms Jeevika
Sharjah
Website comment
No logic
My Sewa bill for June was Dh391. In July, it went up to Dh813. I went for a two-week vacation in the month of August, but I was billed Dh815. I don’t understand the logic behind this. There was no one in the house and we tried minimising the usage after the July bill. How did our bill increase?
From Mr James
Sharjah
Website comment
Unexplained rise
My bill last month was Dh300 and now it is Dh720. There is definitely something wrong with the system. Sewa needs to fix this as soon as possible.
From Mr Satheesan
Sharjah
Website comment
What went wrong?
I heard a lot of people talking about the change in their summer Sewa bill. I was surprised when I returned from my vacation to find that I had received a bill of Dh700 just for six days! We had fully switched off the breaker and closed the water connection too, so I don’t know where the mistake occurred.
From Mr Riyaz
Sharjah
Website comment
Being punished
A similar situation occurred with me. I was on leave for 15 days. According to the meter reading dates, my bill should actually be half of what it is. Instead, it has increased. So are we being punished for not using electricity? Last month’s bill amount was Dh516 and this month, it is Dh712 – despite the fact that I was not at home for 15 days. Anyway, I paid the bill. Otherwise my electricity would be turned off, which I don’t want. If I remember correctly, the hike in per-unit rate has directly jumped to 200 per cent. But nobody has taken notice of it. It has increased from 10 Fils per unit to 30 Fils.
From Mr Shahzad Haider
Sharjah
Website comment
Grave error
Thank you Gulf News for bringing this matter to light. It is very true that Sewa bills have doubled. I travelled with my family for 28 days in August and the house was not occupied by anyone. Before leaving, I switched off every switch, except our refrigerator, which was kept on. Yet, to our surprise, we still got a bill of Dh600. There is surely some error or mistake in readings from Sewa. I urge the authorities to look into this matter.
From Ms Aisha
Sharjah
Website comment
Something’s wrong
My bill last month was Dh300 and now it is Dh1,350. I don’t know how anyone could possibly use this much electricity and water! It is impossible. There is definitely wrong with the system. Sewa needs to fix this situation as soon as possible.
From Mr Waqas Khan
Sharjah
Website comment
Unjustifiable increase
Sewa may try to justify that this bill increase is due to Ramadan or because children are on vacation and always at home. However, my question is – what about families who have gone for vacation and whose children are infants? They neither went to school last month nor did they go this month, so the usage has been the same – yet, the electricity bill has doubled. There is definitely something wrong. We request that Sewa fix this problem as soon as possible.
From Ms Jasmine
Sharjah
Website comment
Repeat incident
I reside in Ajman. My regular monthly bill is Dh300-Dh400 on average. Last month, it came to around Dh900. I would like the authorities to note that last year in August, there was a similar hike in billing.
From Mr Hassan Mahbub
Ajman
Editor’s note: What do you think of the issue? Did you face a similar experience? Share your views on the newspaper’s content with us on readers@gulfnews.com or our Facebook page.
