ISLAMABAD: I am a government pensioner living in Sector O-9, Zone V on the periphery of Islamabad. We are a family of five and the only electric appliances that we use include the refrigerator, washing machine, toaster, blender, computer, phone charger, electric iron, microwave and oven. All the bulbs in our house are energy savers. Imagine my surprise, then, that my electricity bill for the last billing month amounted to Rs27,668.
I don’t think the man who reads the meter in our area has the resources to visit this far-flung part of the capital regularly. In fact, I believe that all residents in the area are sent estimated bills. As a law-abiding citizen, I will pay my electricity bill by the due date and also because I fear that if I don’t, my electricity connection will be disconnected. However, this will not stop me from pointing out the menace that overbilling has become.
The media has been giving coverage to incidents where people have been pushed into desperate acts as they are unable to pay their bills. A widow committed suicide because the authorities concerned refused to correct her bill and she could not afford to pay the overbilled amount. This is not an extreme reaction by low-income consumers of electricity. I have been forced to discontinue my medical treatment, pathology tests and hospital visits in order to save money for the payment of my utility bills. In emergency situations, I rely on self-medication because it is cost-effective. Economic hardships are driving people on fixed incomes like me to make some very difficult decisions, but it is clear that the powers that be do not care about the plight of ordinary citizens.
Asghar Mahmood
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.
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