Penalties up to VND 10 million for landlords overcharging students for electricity

Fines ranging from 7,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND may be imposed on landlords who charge tenants electricity rates higher than the regulations in cases of purchasing electricity at retail prices for residential purposes (According to Clause 6 Article 12 Decree 134/2013/ND-CP).

The situation in some places where students and workers have to bear high electricity prices when renting houses is evident. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued a Circular guiding the implementation of electricity sale prices. It is mentioned that Electricity Corporations and rural retail electricity units, collectives, and residential clusters are responsible for publicly announcing and setting quotas for landlords based on temporary residence books or temporary residence certificates managed by the local Police.

To be specific: Every 4 people are considered one household to determine the retail electricity use quota (1 person is counted as 1/4 of the quota, 2 people as 1/2, 3 people as 3/4, and 4 people as 1 quota). Landlords are responsible for collecting electricity charges from tenants according to the retail electricity rates in the monthly electricity bills issued by the retail electricity unit, adding 10% for electricity loss, lighting, and shared water pumping costs.

According to Circular 16/2014/TT-BCT, in cases where the landlord collects electricity charges from the tenant households but cannot declare the number of people, the retail electricity price for residential tiers shall be applied at Tier 3: From 101 - 200 kWh for the entire measured electricity consumption as per the meter.

The aforementioned content is referenced in Official Dispatch 4044/BCT-DTDL dated May 23, 2018.

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