I’ve lived in Hualien for years and every other month (every 2 months) I get an individual electric bill from the power company.
Looking at apartments to live in Taipei now, I found a place in Nangang, but the landlord says he charges a flat rate of 7,000NTD for two months of electricity. He also says he can’t provide a bill or statement, just requires tenants to pay that flat fee. My spidey sense is tingling. Is this common practice in the bigger cities, or is he trying to take us for a ride? I’ve never paid 7k for an electric bill in Hualien, but I can accept that. However, no print out or bill/statement? Seems suspicious to me.
I live in a 50ping apartment and my highest electric bill was 12K until I upgraded my AC. Now, it’s 3.5K. So I think you are right about this. Trust your instincts as it will only get worse. The landlord should have a meter installed so you know how much electricity you are using.
Im sure if the bill was over the 7K set amount, the landlord would be waving the billl in his face demanding it be paid. The set amount doesnt mean this particular landlord will uphold his end of the deal if the OP spins the meter past the 7K mark.
I’m planning on renting a short term apt and the listings says it costs 6元 / unit. I don’t have any experience how much units per month a household would use in summer.
Facts:
6 ping apt
no cooking
work from home 5 days a week (so AC might be on some time, maybea fan would save some energy?)
With how much extra cost should I calculate per month? NT$ 2000? Less? More?
I strongly recommend throwing up your middle finger at any landlord that charges you more than the electric company for your electricity. They will be greedy assholes all the way down. I had a place where it was 8元 per 度 and the landlord would be texting me every few hours for days leading up to rent being due, every month, then expect me to drop everything and immediately wire the payment the split second the water / energy bill came due. Then the water and electric didn’t get paid BY THE LANDLORD for long enough at one point that my water got shut off for DAYS. If you need to skim such a tiny amount off every tenant, your problems are sky-high. Don’t rent from such people!
What is the normal price from the electric company? It would be just 2 months so it wouldnt bother me too much (only if its like 3000-4000 a month of course).
That he gets a lower bill, his name is on the bill (and Hukou) and then overcharges his tenants and probably doesn’t pay taxes on his rental income and has some pocket money from his electricity deal to buy binlang and booze. It’s even possible he has a ‘company’ of some sort and putt that name on the electricity bill. You basically can put any name on an electricity bill as long as it’s being paid. Learned that a few years ago.
The price of electricity for consumers is expected to be increased by an average of 11 percent…
The rate rise affects three major categories of consumers: residential users, small businesses and industrial users, the official said.
