I urge Nepra to take notice of K-Electric's decision to have just one power meter for an entire house
KARACHI: I would like to bring to the notice of Nepra the excesses being perpetrated by K-Electric on Karachiites by its decision to have just one power meter for an entire house, even if occupied by more than one family. As per the existing K-Electric policy implemented in 2012, the electricity utility provides separate meters to each consumer or floor of the house, subject to the sublease of each floor. It is difficult for the common man to have his own house in Karachi, so obviously a sublease cannot be executed in favour of tenants. To fulfill K-Electric’s requirement, forged subleases in the names of sons, daughters and relatives of landlords are prepared, even though the tenants are physically living on each floor. K-Electric is, therefore, promoting corruption and forgery by making it compulsory to have a sublease for each floor to make the provision of separate meters possible.
The sub-lease of each floor costs a huge amount and creates legal complications if the owner wants to sell the house. K-Electric’s purpose in asking for a sublease for each floor is to generate maximum revenue due to a higher tariff slab for the total consumption of the house, instead of a lower slab for the consumption of an individual consumer. Every electricity consumer is legally entitled to have a separate meter for recording his or her electricity consumption, irrespective of whether he or she is a landlord, tenant, or a family living on different floors of the same house. Regulatory rules and the Nepra ACT don’t prohibit the installation of separate meters nor a sublease for each floor.
Every power distribution company in Pakistan, except K-Electric, provides separate electric meters per floor after a simple application. This used to be the policy of K-Electric before 2012 and of KESC before its privatisation in 2007. Gas companies also provide separate meters. In our country’s traditional joint family system, families may have different incomes and electricity consumption patterns, so billing disputes are cropping up as people have to pay higher rates per unit, based on the total consumption of the house and higher tariff slabs, even with private sub-meters installed. It is requested that K-Electric restore its pre-2012 policy of providing separate meters to each consumer per floor, as per the law of the land and the policy of other power distribution and gas companies in Pakistan.
Kanwal Aziz
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2015.
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