<\/p>\n
PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday \u201cstrongly condemned\u201d malpractices by the country\u2019s power distribution companies (Discos), saying that it amounted to criminal activity and action should be initiated against them.<\/p>\n
The statement comes after, in one of the most damning indictments of over-billing in the provision of electricity, Discos across Pakistan were accused of fleecing customers<\/a> and overcharging them as much as 100 per cent.<\/p>\n In a comprehensive inquiry, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) found that distribution companies, without exception, were overcharging and over-billing their consumers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is [not a] single Disco in the country who is charging bills in 100pc correct manner,\u201d the power sector regulator concluded in its 14-page report. The allegations come at a time when Discos are carrying out a countrywide campaign against power theft.<\/p>\n In a press release issued today, Rabbani said the Nepra inquiry had revealed the \u201cmother of all scams, as power firms have been skinning alive users through inflated bills\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the gravest malpractices of over-billing in the provision of electricity,\u201d he said, adding that the Nepra report had called into question the integrity of Discos\u2019 entire revenue stream.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report also found that the actual amount charged to users differed from the snapshot of the meter reading available on the bills. In some cases, the snapshots were either invisible or deliberately not taken,\u201d the PPP senator noted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe findings of the report amount to criminal activity,\u201d Rabbani said, adding that the Discos should be proceeded against.<\/p>\n He also demanded that the over charged amount should be adjusted against users\u2019 bills. He said the Nepra report should be placed before the Senate to suggest and recommend what action should be taken, adding that the CEOs of the Discos should be placed on the Exit Control List.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, K-Electric said that it remained engaged with the power regulator to share information and discuss any other points raised by the authority.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to Nepra\u2019s recently issued inquiry report on billing practices in Discos, KE is the only company using handheld devices for meter reading, which are an effective solution at ensuring transparency in the meter reading and billing process,\u201d a statement issued by the KE spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report also found that KE\u2019s monthly billing cycles follow the regulator\u2019s guidelines and has observed no lapse from the company in this regard,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n KE added that the Nepra inquiry report showed \u201cno customers were found to have been fleeced by a change of slab or deprived of their protected or lifeline status due to an error by KE in meter reading\u201d.<\/p>\n The Nepra inquiry found that the actual amount charged to users differed from the snapshot of meter-reading available on their bills. In some cases, snapshots were \u201ceither invisible or deliberately not taken\u201d.<\/p>\n Multan Electric Power Com\u00adpany (Mepco), Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) and Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) sent the most bills with invalid snapshots.<\/p>\n The consumers were billed beyond the mandated 30-day billing period, as a result of which \u201cprotected\u201d consumers \u2014 those consuming less than 200 kWh per month consistently for six months \u2014 were charged the rate of upper slab users.<\/p>\n Under the law, meter readings should be taken for less than 30 days or a maximum of 30 days. However, Nepra found that 13.76 million consumers in the domestic category were billed on the basis of readings of more than 30 days in those two months, while 3.2m were charged a higher slab rate due to the extended billing period.<\/p>\n This moved 0.84m users out of the protected category, while the status of more than 52,800 consumers was converted to non-lifeline. Consumers using up to 100kW per month are classified as \u201clifeline\u201d.<\/p>\n According to the Disco-wise breakdown, Mepco alone over-billed 7.99m consumers in July and August.<\/p>\n Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) overbilled 1.65m consumers, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) over 1.19m consumers, Lesco 1.17m, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) 730,105, Sepco 326,249, Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) 313,596, Qesco 164,987 and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) 45,850. The data pertained to nine \u2014 out of 11 \u2014 Discos as K-Electric (KE) and Tribal Electric Supply Company did not provide full data.<\/p>\n The report, however, said that KE\u2019s 78,000 consumers in July and 66,000 in August were issued bills on the basis of inaccurate snapshots.<\/p>\n A total of 10.68m consumers were billed for more than 30 days \u2014 the period, which in some cases, extended even beyond 40 days. Over 0.24m consumers were charged for a billing period of more than 40 days.<\/p>\n The report also found that the Discos billed over 0.4m consumers \u201con average\u201d during these two months on the pretext of defective meters.<\/p>\n A total of 492,478 defective meters were in need of replacement by the end of August 2023. These meters had remained defective from two months to more than three years.<\/p>\n Under the law, such meters must be replaced within two billing cycles. The respective Discos, instead of replacing meters, charged users on an average basis from the period the meter was declared defective.<\/p>\n Almost 100pc bills of all the Discos, including KE, had various discrepancies.<\/p>\n Discos have also been sending \u201cfake and frivolous\u201d detection bills to consumers, leading to low recoveries, the report found. A detection bill is sent in addition to the usual consumption bill if a discrepancy is uncovered in the meter or when theft or other unauthorised use of electricity is detected.<\/p>\n According to the report, the recovery ratio of detection bills for Hesco and Sepco stands at a mere 5pc and 6pc, respectively. KE didn\u2019t submit the details of recovery made against detection bills.<\/p>\n The regulator has recommended legal action against all Discos, including KE, for violating the regulations. \u201cDiscos may be directed to \u2026 revision of inflated bills on pro-rata basis. Discos shall correct the bills within one billing cycle and issue revised bills to the affected consumers \u2026 and submit compliance report within thirty (30) days,\u201d the report recommended.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday \u201cstrongly condemned\u201d malpractices by the country\u2019s power distribution companies (Discos), saying that it amounted to criminal activity and action should be initiated against them. The statement comes after, in one of the most damning indictments of over-billing in the provision of electricity, Discos across Pakistan were accused of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/05152429a1d84d9.jpg?r=152434","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}K-Electric says engaged with Nepra<\/h2>\n
Startling revelations<\/h2>\n