| Danial Norjidi |
THE recently-announced com-pensation scheme to reimburse businesses affected by unplanned power outages that exceed three hours is in place to ensure the relevant authorities’ focus and accountability as well as to help further improve the ease of doing business in the country.
The Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, said this in an interview Saturday on the sidelines of the bruneihalal product launch.
The Department of Electrical Services (DES) recently announced a compensation scheme to reimburse businesses affected by unplanned power outages that exceed three hours, effective as of June 1, 2016.
Responding to a question from the Bulletin regarding why the government decided to implement the scheme, he shared two reasons.
“I think the most important thing is that it makes sure that we, as a provider, as an organisation, will always be on our toes and always be focused and accountable to what we do,” he said.
Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, while being interviewed. – AZROL AZMI
“We cannot just have outages without being penalised. That’s not on.”
The second reason he shared pertained to foreign direct investment (FDI), as he said that such a scheme would encourage foreign investors.
“This will definitely improve our Ease of Doing Business World Bank ranking,” he said.
In the recent press statement announcing the scheme, the DES said that compensations are only for customers categorised in the commercial sector (tariff B) – for example, grocery shops, supermarkets and car workshops, to name a few.
The compensation in kilowatt-hour (kWh) will be calculated based on the customer’s average usage per hour and will be provided in the form of either a token credit issuance for customers using prepaid meters or in the form of kWh deduction from the prevailing bill for customers using the conventional post-paid or CT meters.
It was also stated in the press release that, under this compensation scheme, the DES will not compensate any damages to properties, products, appliances or equipment.
Customers can process their claim through online system by completing the compensation form from the official DES website www.des.gov.bn/downloads or from any of the DES counters (during office hours).
The statement also shared that customers will receive an acknowledgment receipt of their claims via email or via phone call and will receive their compensation within three working days.
For more information on the scheme, customers can call Darussalam hotline 123, visit any DES counters during normal working hours or download the Compensation Guidelines from the DES website.
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