KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 ― Highway concessionaire Projek Lintasan Kota Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) was today fined RM40,000 over water theft at a toll plaza in 2011.

Shah Alam Sessions Court judge Slmat Yahya reportedly imposed the fine after the company's representative, Mohd Khairi Dahalan, pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing water, on behalf of the firm.

Khairi, an engineer, reportedly sought a more lenient sentence by asserting that this was the first time the company had committed an offence.

"We (the company) also regretted the offence and promise it will not occur again.

"We also hope the court can give us a second chance for us to improve the company’s system to avoid this problem,” he was quoted saying by local daily New Straits Times (NST).

Prosecutor Shariful Azman Mustapa Yahya argued, however, that Prolintas's theft of treated water contributed to Selangor's non-revenue water problem and could indirectly require an increase in tariffs that would then burden state residents.

Prolintas was charged with making an illegal water connection on June 24, 2011 to the main water pipes to channel treated water to the Kemuning-Shah Alam Expressway's Alam Impian toll plaza.

Those convicted of the charge under Section 123 (1)(a) of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 are liable to a maximum fine of RM100,000 or a maximum one-year jail term or both.