Getting over charged on electricity

[MickeyMaow]

I remember talk not so long ago about a new law coming in to stop landlord over charging on electricity. Did that happen? If it did, it certainly is not being in forced. Is there anything you can do if you’re being charged more than double the government rate of electricity?

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by MickeyMaow

[blackcab]

That law applies to people who rent out 5 residential properties/condos/houses or more.

 

If you are being charged more than the government rate plus a small percentage then you can complain to the Office of the Consumer Protection Board.

 

http://www.ocpb.go.th/ocpb_eng/main.php?filename=index___EN

[wgdanson]

20 minutes ago, MickeyMaow said:

Is there anything you can do if you’re being charged more than double the government rate of electricity?

Move !   Or cut down on your usage by 50%.    LOL

[clokwise]

You can report your landlord to the authorities, and they WILL follow up. This happened to my wife's building a couple months ago by a disgruntled tenant who had been evicted for drunken fighting in the middle of the night on more than one occasion. They forced her to come down to their office with lease agreements and bills etc and she had to prove she was not overcharging. A real PITA.

[MickeyMaow]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

Move !   Or cut down on your usage by 50%.    LOL

Yeah you’re right, to be honest I’m not going to do anything about it. But just curious if someone could do something about it, I wasn’t even sure if there is a new law either.

Edited February 20, 2019 by MickeyMaow

[sanemax]

I am getting charged 7 Baht per unit , when the going rate is 4 Baht .

I am also getting free wi-fi and free room cleansing .

If I were to complain about the electric overcharging 

They would probably charge me for wi-fi usage and not clean my room 

[wgdanson]

21 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I am getting charged 7 Baht per unit , when the going rate is 4 Baht .

I am also getting free wi-fi and free room cleansing .

If I were to complain about the electric overcharging 

They would probably charge me for wi-fi usage and not clean my room 

Nothing is FREE. You are paying for WiFI & Cleaning in your rent. 7 Baht is 175% of what it should be. Go and negotiate.

[eyecatcher]

Play the game back and get yourself a solar panel.

But unless you are in a condo or hmo just get your own bill direct from pea

[sanemax]

25 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Nothing is FREE. You are paying for WiFI & Cleaning in your rent. 7 Baht is 175% of what it should be. Go and negotiate.

The free wi-fi isnt stated in my rental contract and the landlord would just start charging 300 Baht for wi-fi and I would save about 150 Baht in electricity savings , leaving my 150 Baht down

[Khaeng Mak]

Never rent a property unless you can pay your electricity bill direct yourself. Easy.

[EricTh]

Most condos do overcharge in Chiang Mai. Can you complain all the condos to the authorities?

[impulse]

3 hours ago, Khaeng Mak said:

Never rent a property unless you can pay your electricity bill direct yourself. Easy.

 

Sure, you can decide where to live based on one small component of a pretty big equation that entails all kinds of quality of life questions, competitive rental fees and what you get for your money.

 

Or you can look at the entire package of amenities vs total cost and make a smart decision. 

 

I paid a significant premium for my electricity where I lived in Asoke.  Some of my Euro co-workers paid the PEA rate for electricity in the same area.  But they paid about 5x what I paid for rent...  I still came out 70,000 baht a month cheaper than they did.  In fairness, by different employment agreements I paid my own rent and they had expat packages that simply set a budget of what the company would pay for theirs.  As expected, they found properties that bumped right up against their budgets.  I shopped around for a better deal overall.

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by impulse

[rumak]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Or you can look at the entire package of amenities vs total cost and make a smart decision. 

Not gonna happen with most complainers .   But kudos to you for figuring that out !

[crazykopite]

19 hours ago, sanemax said:

I am getting charged 7 Baht per unit , when the going rate is 4 Baht .

I am also getting free wi-fi and free room cleansing .

If I were to complain about the electric overcharging 

They would probably charge me for wi-fi usage and not clean my room 

I think your on a winner with that one best not to complain wherever I have rented I used to get charged 7 baht which is a lot cheaper than the western world.

[baansgr]

20 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Nothing is FREE. You are paying for WiFI & Cleaning in your rent. 7 Baht is 175% of what it should be. Go and negotiate.

And if the electric  was only 4.5 baht they would stick his rent to a few grand

[1FinickyOne]

I always ask before... of course, it takes time to learn to do that... but that is how it is here... some add on to electricity others do not... so, now you know.

[1FinickyOne]

21 hours ago, sanemax said:

I am getting charged 7 Baht per unit , when the going rate is 4 Baht .

I am also getting free wi-fi and free room cleansing .

If I were to complain about the electric overcharging 

They would probably charge me for wi-fi usage and not clean my room 

A reasonable voice... landlords have to make a living too... 

 

good perspective electriclogicalmax321

[mikecha]

22 hours ago, sanemax said:

I am getting charged 7 Baht per unit , when the going rate is 4 Baht .

I am also getting free wi-fi and free room cleansing .

If I were to complain about the electric overcharging 

They would probably charge me for wi-fi usage and not clean my room 

then no complaint good deal right

[Greyhat]

I'm being over charged too but I know it's not worth the trouble of going to the authorities over it. I'll say I will if I don't get my deposit back though.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Greyhat

[thailand49]

The question I have is?  Did you move in knowing full well you were being charged double and now expect the law to be enforced in your situation?

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, mikecha said:

then no complaint good deal right

Yes, I'm staying in my Condo without a contract , that expired years ago .

No rent increases and doesnt charge me the 100 Baht day fine , if I'm late paying rent .

  He gave me my deposit back from the last condo that I rented from him and I only gave him a few days notice , when the contract stated I needed to give him a months notice and I was fully expecting him to keep the deposit , as quite a few things were damaged .

  If I started laying down the law , he may do as well and I would come out losing

[Emmess]

2 hours ago, sanemax said:

Yes, I'm staying in my Condo without a contract , that expired years ago .

No rent increases and doesnt charge me the 100 Baht day fine , if I'm late paying rent .

  He gave me my deposit back from the last condo that I rented from him and I only gave him a few days notice , when the contract stated I needed to give him a months notice and I was fully expecting him to keep the deposit , as quite a few things were damaged .

  If I started laying down the law , he may do as well and I would come out losing

Ditto in my case, lucky to have an excellent land lady. Of course I make sure the rent is always paid before the 5th and pay for the majority of maintenance without troubling her. Have kept a handy man who gets all of it done from the buildings engineers for a reasonable tip. His wife does the cleaning of my apartment and hence has the keys to the apartment. So I don't need to be there personally when the repairs/ maintenance is being done.  

[matador007]

On 2/20/2019 at 3:46 PM, blackcab said:

That law applies to people who rent out 5 residential properties/condos/houses or more.

 

If you are being charged more than the government rate plus a small percentage then you can complain to the Office of the Consumer Protection Board.

 

http://www.ocpb.go.th/ocpb_eng/main.php?filename=index___EN

Do you or anyone know if this applies to Moo Baan's aka Housing areas/villages/developments ?

 

I know of some that charge more than standard rate on electric.

[blackcab]

9 minutes ago, matador007 said:

Do you or anyone know if this applies to Moo Baan's aka Housing areas/villages/developments ?

 

I know of some that charge more than standard rate on electric.

 

It does not matter where the properties are located. The individual landlord must have 5 or more residential properties that they let out.

 

That can be 5 houses in a single moo baan. It could be 2 properties in one moo baan and 3 properties in another moo baan. It could be 5 condos in Bangkok. Or 1 condo in Bangkok, 1 condo in Phuket, a house in Chiang Rai and 2 apartments in Koh Pi Pi.

[matador007]

14 minutes ago, blackcab said:

 

It does not matter where the properties are located. The individual landlord must have 5 or more residential properties that they let out.

 

That can be 5 houses in a single moo baan. It could be 2 properties in one moo baan and 3 properties in another moo baan. It could be 5 condos in Bangkok. Or 1 condo in Bangkok, 1 condo in Phuket, a house in Chiang Rai and 2 apartments in Koh Pi Pi.

For example, the developer XYZ in Moo Baan ABC, charges everyone in the Moo Baan 6.5 baht/unit.  So like 30-100 houses or however many in it.

Just wondering if thats ok.  Houses are "owned" by each person(s)/Company within it.

Thanks.

[Dante99]

3 minutes ago, matador007 said:

For example, the developer XYZ in Moo Baan ABC, charges everyone in the Moo Baan 6.5 baht/unit.  So like 30-100 houses or however many in it.

Just wondering if thats ok.  Houses are "owned" by each person(s)/Company within it.

Thanks.

never seen a moo baan where home owners paid the developer for electricity, they all pay directly to the electric company who bills them each directly

[blackcab]

12 minutes ago, matador007 said:

For example, the developer XYZ in Moo Baan ABC, charges everyone in the Moo Baan 6.5 baht/unit.  So like 30-100 houses or however many in it.

Just wondering if thats ok.  Houses are "owned" by each person(s)/Company within it.

Thanks.

 

That's a grey area. The only way to find out would be to approach the OCPB.

[blackcab]

7 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

never seen a moo baan where home owners paid the developer for electricity, they all pay directly to the electric company who bills them each directly

 

I've seen one. The projects are normally badly thought out from the beginning and are often put together by developers still in the learning stage.

 

When the units are all sold it's not their problem any more.