Pay Now, Complain Later Golden Rule of SEC

JEDDAH, 7 March 2006 — The Saudi Electric Company doesn’t want to hear complaints from customers until these customers first settle their bills. Al-Madinah reported that a man was hit with a SR4,500 electric bill after six months of service, or SR750 ($200) per month. Shocked, the customer called the SEC and requested they investigate the expenses. The SEC representative then told the man that, investigation or not, he would have to pay first to prevent service cut-off.