Overbilling and delays: Ombudsman office swamped by complaints

Nearly three-quarters registered against power firms


Sehrish Wasif May 07, 2016
Nearly three-quarters registered against power firms. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD:


An avalanche of complaints were filed at the Federal Ombudsman) Secretariat from all over the country during the first four months of the year.


Some 14,831 out of 20,254 public complaints filed between January 1 and April 30 were registered against power supply companies, according to data collected by The Express Tribune.

“The bulk of these complaints were related to overbilling or delays in getting new connections,” said Tariq Imam, a senior adviser at the Wafaqi Mohtasib Office.

The highest number of complaints was registered against Lahore Electric Supply Co, numbering 4,020 followed by 4,011 against Karachi-based utility K-Electric, Peshawar Electric Supply Co. (Pesco) 1,728, Hyderabad Electric supply Co (Hesco) 1,628, Multan Electric Power Co. (Mepco) 1,334, Faisalabad Electric Supply Co. (Fesco) 408, Gujaranwala Electric Power Co. (Gepco) 322and Islamabad Electric Supply Co. (Iesco) 255.

Imam said that representatives from the power supply companies were called and they acknowledged the billing errors and said they were mainly caused by defects in meters.

“Most of the complaints were registered by lower-middle class families. Their bills were in thousands mainly because of a defect in electricity meters installed at their homes,” he said.

As many as 1,697 complaints were registered against National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), 1,669 against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), 255 against Sui Southern Gas Company Limited  (SSGCL), 454 against Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), 321 against Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), 268 against State Life Insurance Co. (SLIC), 266 against Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Post and 277 against the Capital Development Authority (CDA), according to official data.

Most of the complaints received against above mentioned organisations were of maladministration, said Imam.

“So far, almost 98 per cent of these complaints have been redressed because since 2015, the time for disposing of complaints has been reduced to 45 days,” he said.


Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2016.

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