Nghe An will inspect and handle boarding house owners who collect electricity bills against regulations.

On October 26, Circular 25/2018/TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade amending and supplementing a number of articles of the previous Circular No. 16, regulating the implementation of electricity prices will officially take effect.

The Circular clearly stipulates that in the case of renting a house to students and workers with a rental contract of 12 months or more and a temporary residence registration, the homeowner directly signs the electricity purchase contract or the tenant's representative signs the electricity purchase contract.

Students and workers renting accommodation often have to pay higher electricity prices than the general regulations. Photo: Quang An

In case the rental period is less than 12 months and the homeowner cannot fully declare the number of electricity users, the retail price of household electricity of level 3 is applied at 1,858 VND/kWh from 101 - 200kWh for the entire electricity output measured at the meter.

In which, each person is counted as 1/4 of the standard. When there is a change in the number of tenants, the landlord is responsible for notifying the electricity seller to adjust the electricity bill calculation standard. The electricity seller has the right to check and request the electricity buyer to present the monthly temporary residence registration book to determine the number of people to calculate the standard when calculating the electricity bill.

Electricity meters are installed in boarding houses in Vinh City. Photo: Quang An

According to data from Nghe An Electricity Company, currently in the province there are 1,430 cases of renting houses and rooms signing electricity purchase contracts with 19 affiliated electricity branches. The total number of people renting houses as of October 2018 is 14,161 people.

Mr. Nguyen Van Anh - Head of Sales Department of Nghe An Electricity Company said: Currently, Nghe An Electricity has publicly posted Circular 25, Circular 16 and decisions on electricity prices at all customer transaction points. Organize propaganda of Circular 25 content on mass media, social networks...

Since October 26, Nghe An Electricity has deployed forces to close the indexes of operating meters for customers in urban areas, high-rise apartment buildings... to apply new electricity prices according to the issued circular.

For boarding houses, in addition to reviewing the electricity prices of boarding house owners, we also coordinate with universities and industrial parks to inform students and workers renting houses about the new points of Circular 25 to ensure their rights.

Nghe An Electricity Company conducts meter reading to apply new price according to circular issued on October 26. Photo: Quang An

According to a survey, although the current electricity price for boarding houses in the province tends to decrease compared to before, however, a number of landlords and tenants when asked about electricity prices do not know or do not care about this issue.

In Article 12, Clause 6 of Decree No. 134/2013/ND-CP dated October 17, 2013 of the Government regulating administrative sanctions for violations in the field of electricity, safety of hydroelectric dams, and economical and efficient use of energy: A fine of from VND 7,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on landlords who collect electricity bills from tenants higher than the prescribed price in the case of purchasing electricity at the retail price for domestic purposes.