Riyadh – June 15, 2023
Riyadh – June 15, 2023
Social media platforms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia witnessed widespread debate in recent hours over the hashtag “#معسر_فاتوره_رقم256ب3872ب1” (Delinquent on Bill Number 256ب3872ب1), which was shared by thousands of users amid significant interaction.
According to our monitoring, the incident involves a Saudi citizen residing in Riyadh who faced severe financial hardship that prevented him from paying an electricity bill worth 3,500 Saudi riyals bearing the number 256ب3872ب1. A circulated image of the bill showed the due date as June 10, 2023.
In a statement to Al-Watan newspaper, Khalid Al-Qahtani, spokesperson for the Saudi Electricity Company, said: “We confirm that the company deals humanely with cases facing financial difficulties, and we encourage citizens to communicate with us to submit installment or deferment requests according to the applicable systems.”
Al-Qahtani added: “We understand the difficult economic conditions that some families are going through, and we always strive to find appropriate solutions that ensure service continuity without burdening citizens.”
For his part, lawyer Abdullah Al-Zahrani told Al-Arabiya.net that “the Saudi system protects consumers from service interruptions in cases of necessity and provides flexible payment options that suit citizens’ financial circumstances.”
Statistics issued by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing showed that the percentage of Saudi families facing difficulties in paying service bills reached 12.5% during the first quarter of 2023, compared to 9.8% during the same period last year.
This incident comes amid rising global prices of goods and services, and the Saudi economy being affected by the repercussions of global inflation, which prompted the government to take measures to support citizens, including increasing the cost of living allowance and disbursing the social security benefits.
In conclusion to our monitoring, we emphasize the importance of direct communication with service agencies in cases of financial hardship, and benefiting from available options to install or defer bill payments, to maintain service continuity and protect consumer rights.
السعودية الاخبارية ، موقع إخباري شامل يهتم بتقديم خدمة صحفية متميزة للقارئ، وهدفنا أن نصل لقرائنا الأعزاء بالخبر الأدق والأسرع والحصري بما يليق بقواعد وقيم الأسرة السعودية، لذلك نقدم لكم مجموعة كبيرة من الأخبار المتنوعة داخل الأقسام التالية، الأخبار العالمية و المحلية، الاقتصاد، تكنولوجيا ، فن، أخبار الرياضة، منوعات و سياحة.