People's electricity bills increased suddenly, Ho Chi Minh City Electricity spoke up

Ms. Huong, who lives in Thu Duc City, said that normally, her family only uses 1-1.1 million VND of electricity each month. However, the electricity bill in August increased to nearly 1.5 million VND. Checking the number of days recorded, she discovered that the billing period lasted 42 days, instead of 30 days as before.

“ Normally, we pay for each electricity billing period every 30-31 days. Now, the billing period has lasted 42 days, which makes me a bit “shocked” because the amount has increased so much, ” said Ms. Huong.

Many other people in Ho Chi Minh City also had their electricity bills increase dramatically in August like Ms. Huong’s family. Some billing periods even lasted for more than 50 days, leading to a sharp increase in the amount of electricity they had to pay.

Responding to VTC News about this situation, Mr. Bui Trung Kien, Deputy General Director of Ho Chi Minh City Electricity Corporation (EVNHCMC) said that this unit has received feedback from the people.

The reason why many households have high electricity bills is because the electricity industry has changed the meter to have a remote measurement function and converted to recording electricity on the last day of each month. These changes are to facilitate the accounting cycle (from the 1st to the last day of the month) and help customers easily remember the date of recording the index and the date of paying the electricity bill.

Replacing the meter with a remote measuring function and switching to recording electricity on the last day of each month has caused the electricity bills of many households in Ho Chi Minh City to increase. (Photo: Minh Thy)

According to Mr. Kien, recently, some customers were billed from August 3 to 20 and paid between August 6 and 25, but were moved to the end of the month. Therefore, the number of days of electricity usage in the August billing period, which was supposed to be 31 days, was moved up from 11 to 28 days, and the payment schedule was also moved to the beginning of September 2023.

Therefore, the corresponding amount also increases because the billing period is calculated for 39 - 51 days of electricity use.

Mr. Kien affirmed that the unit price and the ladder rate remain unchanged and people are calculated according to current regulations. For customers using for domestic purposes, the rate is calculated according to the number of days of use.

For example, the first step is 50 kwh, if calculated correctly according to the old electricity recording date of 31 days, when moving to August 31, the standards of each step will also be added corresponding to the increased number of days of use.

Specifically, in the case of a customer in the area that bills on the 11th of every month, from August 2023, they will switch to billing on the last day of the month. In the August 2023 billing period, it will be calculated as follows:

People's electricity bills increased suddenly, Ho Chi Minh City Electricity spoke up - 2

Customers can carefully review the electricity bill, which includes details of the number of days of electricity usage. In addition, customers can access the EVNHCMC Customer Care application to refer to the average daily electricity usage or during the entire period of the last electricity month.

According to Mr. Kien, in the recent August electricity meter reading period, 400,000 customers in the city had their electricity meter reading time changed. Households had their electricity meter reading date moved from mid-month to the end of the month.

“ Currently, EVNHCMC has basically completed the installation of meters with remote measurement function for customers in Ho Chi Minh City, so the automatic remote index collection is convenient, improving service quality and customer experience,” said Mr. Kien.

Also according to Mr. Kien, before changing the meter reading date, EVNHCMC will notify customers of the specific implementation time and explain in detail the changes in electricity consumption and electricity bill in the month, the calculation of electricity price will comply with Circular No. 16/2014/TT-BCT.

In case customers have questions, they can contact hotline 1900545454 for support, explanation and direct interaction. In addition, electricity staff can meet directly with people to explain according to customer needs.

Mr. Kien affirmed that changing the time of recording electricity index does not affect the rights of electricity customers. A unified electricity index recording schedule will bring customers convenience in remembering. When receiving the electricity bill, customers will also know for sure the amount of electricity used from the 1st to the last day of the month.

“ In the first month of changing the electricity meter reading time, instead of using electricity for 30 or 31 days before paying the electricity bill, customers can use electricity for 30 to 59 days before paying the electricity bill, depending on the last meter reading time of the previous month,” said Mr. Kien.

DAI VIET

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