Public Utilities (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 31/1972

Read the first time on 24th October 1972.

An Act to amend the Public Utilities Act (Chapter 211 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Public Utilities (Amendment) Act, 1972, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Public Utilities Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended by deleting the definition of “energy” appearing therein and substituting therefor the following: —

“ “electricity” means electrical power when generated, transmitted, supplied or used for any purpose except the transmission of any communication or signal;”.

Amendment of section 5

3. Subsection (1) of section 5 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —

“(1) The Board shall consist of —

(a)	a Chairman, to be appointed by the Minister;
(b)	not less than five but not more than ten members who shall not be public officers, to be appointed by the Minister; and
(c)	a public officer, to be appointed by the Minister.”.

Amendment of section 10

4. Subsection (1) of section 10 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —

“(1) A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Board and no business shall be transacted unless a quorum is present.”.

Amendment of section 15

5. Section 15 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting the expression “light,” appearing in the third lines of paragraphs (a), (b) and (e) of subsection (2) thereof; and

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (2) thereof the following subsection: —

“(2A) In addition to the functions and duties imposed by this section, the Board may undertake such other functions as the Minister may assign to the Board and in so doing the Board shall be deemed to be fulfilling the purposes of this Act and the provisions of this Act shall apply to the Board in respect of such functions.”.

New section 16A

6. The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 16 thereof the following section: —

“Incorporated private companies may be formed

16A. The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, cause to be formed, under the provisions of any written law for the time being in force relating to companies, an incorporated company or companies for the purpose of carrying out any or all of the functions of the Board.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 17

7. Section 17 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“The Board may stop or interrupt supplies

17. The Board may, in cases of emergency, fire, excessive drought, repairs to mains, or in connection with the construction of new works, alterations to existing works, or the installation, changing or removal of meters, stop, turn off or divert in part or wholly the water, gas or electricity in any mains or other works under its control or management, notwithstanding any agreement made with any person for the supply of water, gas and electricity.”.

Amendment of section 19

8. Section 19 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by inserting immediately after subsection (1) thereof the following subsections: —

“(2) If in the opinion of the Board any person is responsible for the misuse or waste of any water supplied by the Board, the Board may give notice in writing to that person calling upon him to cause the misuse or waste to be discontinued within a period to be specified in the notice and if any such misuse or waste continues after the expiry of that period, the Board may cut off the supply of water to that person by severing or disconnecting the service pipe or by such other means as it thinks fit.

(3) In any case where the Board is of the opinion that immediate action is necessary as a work of emergency in the interests of public safety or in order to avoid undue interference with the efficient supply of gas or electricity to other consumers, it may forthwith discontinue the supply of gas or electricity to any person and shall give immediate notice in writing of the discontinuance to such person.

(4) Where in pursuance of subsection (2) or (3) of this section the Board has cut off any supply of water, gas or electricity, the Board may discontinue such supply until all expenses incurred by the Board are fully paid.”; and

(b)

by renumbering subsections (2) and (3) thereof as subsections (5) and (6) respectively.

Amendment of section 22

9. Subsection (2) of section 22 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the words “such committees” appearing therein the words “or the Chairman”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 30

10. Section 30 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“Tariffs

30.—(1) The prices to be charged for the supply of water, gas and electricity and the hire of apparatus shall be in accordance with such tariffs as may from time to time be prescribed by regulations made by the Board with the approval of the Minister:

Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the Board from charging, by special agreement, other prices which shall be published in the Gazette as soon as may be after such special agreement has been entered into.

(2) The Board, in fixing tariffs and making agreements for the supply of water, gas or electricity, shall not show undue preference as between consumers similarly situated, and shall not exercise undue discrimination as between persons similarly situated, having regard to the place and time of supply, the quantity supplied, and the purpose for which the supply is taken:

Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the Board from fixing different tariffs for consumers similarly situated for a temporary period to be approved by the Minister.”.

Amendment of section 31

11. Section 31 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting paragraph (h) of subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(h)

the receipt of a trustee or trustees duly appointed, or in default of any such appointment and of written notice thereof to the Board, the receipt of a nominee or nominees duly appointed or in default of such appointment, the receipt of the legal personal representative of a deceased contributor shall be a discharge to the Board for any moneys payable on his death out of any such scheme.”.

Amendment of section 73

12. Section 73 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the expression “light,” appearing in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) thereof.

Amendment of section 82

13. Section 82 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “five hundred dollars” appearing therein and substituting therefor the words “one thousand dollars”.

Miscellaneous amendments

14. The provisions of the principal Act specified in the Schedule to this Act are hereby amended by deleting the words “electrical energy” and “energy” wherever they appear therein and substituting therefor in each case the word “electricity”.

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