The tenant did not make any payment to TNB because no payment record showed up in the TNB's smart phone application OR maybe he did pay but it definitely wasn't to TNB for payment towards the outstanding.

I did check with TNB from time to time in respect of my request to have the supply terminated/suspended and it was confirmed to me that an order to "terminate/suspend" is "in motion" but it was "in motion" for months.

With all the facts that I have, I can only assume that the supply was not terminated/suspended because the TNB technician was persuaded one way or another to "look away" and come another day and when the tenant left, there's basically no more incentives for the TNB technician to not "do his/her job".

So at the end of the day, it felt like I was punished because of someone's failure (deliberately) to carry out their duty.

Such is the sad reality when you only have one company monopolizing the supply of one of the world's greatest resources, energy.

I do agreed on what you said and I know you are angry. But that is the reality that such things are happening.

If you have any proof of what is going on the ground, then is good that you write in officially.

Normally the men on the ground should have a b&w report on why no action has been taken and the no of attempts made. You can try to request for the report.

If you felt strongly that you have a case, then you can seek legal avenues against your tenant and tnb..

That is one risk a landlord has to take for letting outsiders to occupied their property and i NEVER want to be a landlord

This post has been edited by mini orchard: Jul 14 2020, 07:35 PM

If I understand correctly, you're saying regardless under whose name the account was whether yours or tenant, TNB will not allow for a new supply account unless the outstanding is settled. This has to be confirmed with TNB because I was in the opinion that TNB would allow a new supply if it was registered to the tenant in the first place. Perhaps you can ask your new tenant to sign up under his name now instead and maybe the application will go through.

Also what isin't practical from business standpoint to change the account to be under the tenant? You are still able to add the account in the app and monitor usage and payment.

legal proceedings would be too costly and too time consuming.

i guess that's how TNB always gets away with it.

It's a little bit more complex than that but you got the idea.

My tenant raked up the electricity bill to RM30k and then left and although the tenancy agreement showed that I was not the one using, TNB said I may be able to convince TNB of not suing me to recover that RM30k but as for any electricity to be supplied to the property, the RM30k has to be first settled, TNB don't care by who.

So, there are 2 parts to it:-

1) having the tenant registered an account for the supply effectively ONLY absolve you from any legal liabilities in terms of recovery of debt but this would put you in a position of having no control whatsoever over the account (eg: no knowledge about any outstanding owing, if any); and

2) whether the account is registered under the owner's name or the tenant's name, there will be no further supply to the property if the supply was previously terminated/suspended because of unpaid outstanding unless they are first cleared in full/partially.

... therefore my new tenant will not be able to register an account for the supply of electricity to the property.

In this arrangement, TNB will not be bothered in attempting to find the tenant and sue them (which by right they should, legally speaking) because they know eventually the owners will pay up because no owners will leave their property untenanted for years which is the reason why I lamented earlier that this "rule" that TNB relies on is abusive in nature (literally holding owners/landlords by the balls) - it is also potentially highly exploitable as well in the sense that TNB could easily let the tenant continue raking up the charges, pretend to be ignorant and then put the owners/landlords in a position where it leaves them with no choice.

To your question; do you know that you have no power/control whatsoever over an account that is not registered under your name?

Imagine this, you see from your mobile app that your tenant is piling up the electricity charges every month and your demands are not being heeded. Naturally, you would want to do something (like asking TNB to terminate/suspend supply) but sadly you cannot because you are not the owner of the account and TNB probably won't entertain you.

So, in this circumstance - you will be at the mercy of your tenant.

This post has been edited by shaniandras2787: Jul 14 2020, 09:27 PM

Hi I'm quite interested in your case. How did you resolve it in the end?

paid the outstanding left behind by the errant tenant from my own pocket - not worth arguing with TNB when i'm losing the opportunity to rent my property out.

moral of the story is, take care of your own property whether the account for the supplies of utilities are registered under your name or not because at the end of the day, tenants gets off scot free (especially more so with the Temporary Measures For Reducing The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) 2020 Act.

This post has been edited by shaniandras2787: Jun 27 2022, 03:08 PM

This was what I told someone in one of the threads on how to avoid tenant owing lots of money to TNB. But he die2 insisted TNB should chase the tenant if meter is registered in tenant's name.

I tried to enquire the same thing and TNB insist the arrears will be held responsible by the tenant, possible that the law has been changed? Just wondering hmm....

meaning all this while TNB tu talking rubbish la?
if no register tenant, "why never register tenant?"
if registered tenant, "nope, property still yours"

There is no standard treatment. In some cases TNB connect back the supply when there is tenant's debts, in other cases they force the owner to pay. Maybe the criteria they use is how much the amount owing if there is any criteria at all. Or it could be just different TNB offices having different practices.

Yes, it's true that the arrears will be the tenant's responsibility meaning that TNB cannot legally chase the owner for payment. But they have other ways to twist the owner's arm to pay.

This post has been edited by Azzqech: Jun 27 2022, 04:14 PM

Dam is this even legal though especially for commercial properties the electricity bill can go really high. I have a property tenant has not been paying for their rental for 3 months and about 2 months of TNB Bill. I'm trying to get a court order but it will take at least 3 months by that time they will be owing 6 months rental already X-x. Can't imagine totaling another 5 months of TNB Bill. (Now I'm not even sure if I'm paying or they are paying) The TNB account is under their company name. If I based on what TNB replied I should not be held responsible for their TNB Bill. (Hopefully X-x)

Not wrong though, TNB "should" chase the person owing the charges BUT that doesn't mean that TNB will allow new account to be registered for the Property.

The liability to pay rests on the person registered to the account BUT that does not automatically mean that TNB will allow supply until the outstanding has been settled.

2 different matters altogether.

Not rubbish - having the tenant holding the registered account absolves the landlord/owner's the liability to pay the outstanding raked up by the tenant. This means TNB will not issue summons to the landlord/owner for the supplies used by the tenant.

If the account is registered under the landlord/owner however, there is nothing to stop TNB from going after the landlord/owner.

The benefit is that landlord/owners can sleep well at night knowing they won't be forced to pay what their tenant is using.

in the end, the owner lose no matter what situation

subjectively then yes but objectively, not so much.

as long as landlords / owners are diligent in taking care of their own property then predicament like these will not occur.

If i'm understand this correctly... in the end, the responsibility actually falls to landlord to ensure all the utilities is paid accordingly.

if let say i rent my parcel, is it possible to put in clause in TA to safeguard the possible cause of rogue usage like cannot have mining equipment or straight cut the utilities if no pay or any excessive changes to the parcel that potentially skyhigh these expenses?



This post has been edited by AdisonMak: Jun 27 2022, 06:13 PM

Yes, basically the onus is for one to take care of its own properties (which is fair).

You can incorporate all the clauses in the world into the tenancy agreement but the question is; can you enforce it and is it possible to enforce it?

As for terminating supplies of utilities, you need to satisfy as least 2 conditions:-

1) terminating the tenancy agreement due to tenant's default; and
2) settle the accrued outstanding first because TNB will not let you terminate if there are outstanding.

not sure whether the law has been overruled or not but you cannot terminate the supply of water (for residentials).

i guess only lazy landlords / owners loses.

if you are already in the process of a distress action then i'm sure your lawyer would have already included these contingencies into the prayer in the statement of claim - you can clarify this with your lawyer.

You should be caution though since your tenant is a company, if it's a RM2.00 paid up capital company then you will be shi- out of luck.

So what should owners do to ensure they don't lose out on unpaid electric bills incurred by their tenants?


This post has been edited by Azzqech: Jun 27 2022, 06:56 PM