S’porean Shares Trick About Getting ‘Refunded’ For Inaccurate Gas, Water & Electricity Bills

There’s plenty of TIL (Today I Learn) opportunities in Singapore online.

Things like Milo fried chicken.

Or the right way to ensure you’re not getting overcharged by your service provider.

How Singapore Power (SP) Group Actually Bill You Every Month

Here’s the thing.

Every month, you get a bill asking for payment on the amount of water, electricity and gas used in your home.

But the amount you’re charged is only accurate once every two months.

And that’s because SP will only take your meter readings on the even-numbered months. That is to say, Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, so on and so forth.

What about the other months?

That’s when they’ll use this beautiful mathematical formula called guesstimate. 

Yup. They guess your consumption based on your previous month’s reading.

Facebook User Shares His Experience, Teaches Others How To Avoid Inaccurate Bills

That was what happened to Facebook user, Adrian Dez, who took to Facebook to talk about his experience.

He said that he thought something was weird when he received his bills for the month and found it to be just higher than the previous month.

Especially when he had gone on a holiday for that month.

So he contacted SP and found out some useful information. Which he decided to share with fellow Singaporeans.

Here’s How You Can Stop Inaccurate Utility Bills Charging

So, how do you dispute “unfair” charges? Or, how exactly do you appeal your case?

Simple, just go to the meters outside your house and snap a photo of the readings.

Then, send it over to SP Service either via WhatsApp (84828636), or through their app, and they’ll correct the error.

But take note that you’re not going to get cold, hard cash back, yeah?

Instead, they’re going to calculate the balance, and whatever you’ve overpaid will be brought forward to the next month’s bill.

According to Adrian, he was told that just to be safe, he should submit his readings on the 22nd before 3 pm.

You can download the SP Group app here.

Netizens’ Reactions

And it turns out, this is pretty much an open secret among homeowners.

While some are angry at the duplicity of SP Group

Another seems to think that it’s okay.

O well.

What if You’ve Changed Your Service Provider

With the open energy market, you might not be using SP Group services, at least not for your electricity.

So what can you do?

If you’re still billed via SP Group (you only receive one bill):

You can submit your readings through the SP Utilities app, through WhatsApp to SP at 8482 8636 or via email at [email protected]

But if you receive a separate electricity bill from your retailer:

You can submit your reading via the e-Services portal on the Open Electricity Market website.

That or call the automated phone system via the Open Electricity Market hotline at 1800-233-8000.