المملكة: 158 million riyals compensation for electricity consumers within a year

The Saudi Electricity Regulatory Commission revealed a noticeable increase in the amounts of financial compensation that were spent for consumers, as it exceeded 158 million Saudi riyals for more than 329 thousand cases.
This comes within the framework of guaranteeing consumer rights and upgrading the quality of electrical services provided in the Kingdom, compared to about 84.8 million riyals, which was spent for about 84 thousand cases in the previous year 2023, which reflects the intensification of the authority’s supervisory role and its keenness to implement the organizations.
The report pointed out that these compensation “comes as a result of the lack of commitment to the electrical service providers, to fulfill the standards guaranteed by the quality of the service set by the authority.”

Consumer compensation

These criteria include multiple aspects that directly affect the consumer experience, such as the specified periods for delivering or modifying the service, the speed of re -current after payment or interruption, prior notification of planned interruptions, and processing complaints of bills within a specific time frame.
These compensation were distributed over different items; Where the compensation for the delay in re -electrical service was formed after it was interrupted by the largest percentage, with an amount exceeding 122 million riyals for more than 218 thousand cases.
Consumers were also compensated for an amount of 22 million riyals for more than 54 thousand cases due to the frequent electrical service interruptions, and with an amount exceeding 8.4 million riyals for about 30 thousand cases to delay in re -service after payment.
Other compensation included amounts exceeding two million riyals for 8312 cases to delay in registering or canceling the service to the actual consumer, and more than 1.6 million riyals for 2151 cases for delay in delivering the service or amending it after payment.
And about one million riyals for 11 thousand cases for not notifying about the planned interruption, and approximately 947 thousand riyals for 3259 cases to delay in treating complaints of bills, in addition to 141 thousand riyals for 282 cases due to the dismissal of the service for lack of payment at times and prohibited cases.

A strict application of standards

In confirmation of the effective consumer protection mechanism, the report highlighted the full electricity interruption incident in Sharurah Governorate as an example of the strict application of the standards, as the authority has enforced compensation procedures due for all consumers affected in the governorate automatically and immediately.
The report indicated that the financial compensation was fully deposited to the beneficiaries without the need to file any complaint or claim from them, during a record period of time that did not exceed ten days from the date of the break, based on the decision of the board of directors of the authority, which was issued immediately after the incident.
These numbers and procedures reflect the pivotal role of the Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority in monitoring the performance of service providers and ensuring their commitment to the approved organizations and evidence. The report indicated that the authority received and dealt with more than 38 thousand complaints during the year, with a significant increase from the previous year, which indicates an increase in consumers’ awareness of their rights and their interaction with the channels available by the authority.
The authority uses a variety of control tools that include field visits, data audit, follow -up indicators, and “hidden consumer” visits to ensure the application of standards, conservation of consumer rights, and enhance the reliability and sustainability of electrical service throughout the Kingdom.