Faulty meters: DISCOs directed to clear backlog

Minister says companies must study rules and regulations to reduce losses

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Power Division Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari has asked CEOs of all distribution companies to clear the backlog of pending faulty meters in their respective areas by March 31, 2018.

He further directed the CEOs to adopt the procedure for new connections based on consumer facilitation. An application tracking system must be brought in practice from March 15, 2018, he said, adding the old system of application will no longer be used after the deadline.

Directions were passed in a progress review meeting attended by the Power Division secretary, all distribution companies’ CEOs, Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) managing director and power division officials on Tuesday.

Talking about the application for new electricity connection, Leghari said the time for installing an electricity meter has been reduced from four to two months. Consumers will also have access to the status of their application via online facilities, he added.

The minister said CEOs should study the existing rules and regulations relating to tariff implementation for Discos, so that technical losses due to tariff are eliminated by the end of March.

He also encouraged Discos to start working on the set of rules and procedure for the application that is necessary for next year’s tariff so the gap between recovery and energy sold is minimised.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2018.

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