TENAGA NASIONAL BERHAD v REGENCY INTERNATIONAL HOTEL SDN BHD

Case Significance

Illustrates that a registered electricity consumer is liable, under both contract and the licensee supply regime, for charges and surcharges accruing on its account, and that a licensed supplier may recover proven arrears with interest and costs.

This High Court decision at Kuala Lumpur concerns a claim by Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the licensed electricity supplier, against Regency International Hotel Sdn Bhd for unpaid electricity charges. The defendant operated a hotel and resort and had applied to the plaintiff for a supply of electricity to its premises at Safuan Plaza, Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur, which was registered under a consumer account in the defendant's name. Supply ran from January 2007 until the account was closed on 31 January 2023. The plaintiff's case was that the defendant had failed or refused to pay the charges accruing under that account. When the action was filed on 25 February 2021 the arrears, including surcharge, stood at RM1,255,242.01; by the time the account was closed the outstanding sum had risen to RM1,839,254.13.

The defendant's obligation to pay was said to arise both under contract and under the statutory framework governing licensed electricity suppliers, including the Licensee Supply Regulations 1990. Bills were delivered monthly to the consumer's registered e-mail, and consumption was captured through a remote meter reading (RMR) system; the consumer bore the responsibility of checking its bills and settling charges by the stipulated time. At trial the court heard from the plaintiff's operations and maintenance engineer and other witnesses, together with a witness for the defendant, and considered the documentary evidence of the account, the meter readings and the final bill dated 31 January 2023.

Weighing the claim, the defence, the evidence and the submissions, the court found that the plaintiff had proved on the balance of probabilities that the defendant had breached its contractual and statutory duty to settle the arrears under the account. It allowed the claim and ordered the defendant to pay RM1,839,254.13 within 30 days, together with interest at 5% per annum from the date of judgment until full settlement and costs of RM50,000.00. The judgment illustrates how a licensed supplier proves and recovers accrued electricity charges from a registered consumer.