How the math works
Every check on your GEBE bill follows the same order, every time. No AI does the arithmetic — it is fixed, repeatable math you can check with a calculator.
Which numbers win
The order of trust
When two figures disagree, the higher one on this list is always used.
- 1st
Official published figures
National Gazette decrees (e.g. Sint Maarten Gazette fuel price regulation (issue number not verified)), TEATT and NV GEBE announcements. Always win. The only figures allowed in dispute letters.
- 2nd
Admin-entered monthly figures
Numbers typed in from the published monthly Gazette by an administrator, recorded with who entered them and when.
- 3rd
Your own bill
What is printed on your invoice. Used to rebuild your bill, never treated as the official rate.
- 4th
Reports from other households
Shown only once 3 or more different homes report the same month, always labelled “unverified”. Never used as proof.
- Last
Estimates
Market-based stand-in numbers, used only for a rough idea when nothing above exists. Clearly labelled as estimates.
Step by step
From photo to verdict
- 1
Read the bill — numbers only
The camera reader copies the printed numbers off your bill: kWh used, base rate, fuel clause rate, total billed and the billing dates. It never adds, multiplies or judges anything. You confirm every number before it is used.
- 2
Sanity checks
Each number is checked against realistic limits (no home uses 250,000 kWh a month, no negative amounts). Anything strange is flagged for you to fix instead of being quietly changed.
- 3
Pick the right month
A bill is filed under the month most of its days fall in, so a 15 Jan – 14 Feb bill is compared with the January rate.
- 4
Energy charge (base rate)
Your kWh times the published base energy rate (currently 0.25 Cg per kWh), spread across the official usage bands.
Energy charge = kWh × base rate
- 5
Fuel clause charge
Your kWh times the fuel clause rate for that month.
Fuel charge = kWh × fuel clause rate
- 6
Rebuild the bill and compare
Energy charge + fuel charge + the other printed lines (fixed fees and taxes) give what the bill should be. That is compared with what GEBE actually billed.
Difference = billed total − rebuilt total
- 7
Overcharge check
If an official fuel clause rate exists for that month, the rate on your bill is checked against it. Only an official rate can ever be used as proof of an overcharge.
Overcharge = kWh × (billed fuel rate − official fuel rate)
Worked example
A 400 kWh bill
- Energy: 400 × 0.2500
- 100.00 Cg
- Fuel: 400 × 0.49 (official, 10 Jul 2026)
- 196.00 Cg
- Should be (before fees/taxes)
- 296.00 Cg
- If billed fuel rate was 0.52
- +12.00 Cg over
Example only — your real figures come from your own bill.
Our promises
What the app never does
- Never lets the AI calculate a charge.
- Never invents a missing official rate.
- Never mixes unverified reports with official figures.
- Never silently changes a number you confirmed.