PHOTO: EXPRESS
This would bring an extra Rs82.2 billion and improve liquidity of the power sector, the Power Division said in a statement issued on Friday.
The decisions were taken in a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Power Division Omar Ayub Khan. Power Division Secretary Irfan Ali, officials of Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), CEOs of relevant distribution companies and other officials of the Power Division were present in the meeting.
They decided to freeze old receivables at levels reached on October 31, 2018 with 100% recovery targets for current bills besides reducing line losses in line with the goals set by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra).
The power minister pressed the CEOs to eliminate electricity theft and illegal hooking as well as take strict action against those involved in such activities with the help of task forces formed by Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The Power Division secretary also emphasised that the CEOs should ensure that defaulters were not able to consume electricity through illegal connections and the drive must be intensified against them without any fear or favour.
According to the targets given to the distribution companies, the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) will make extra recovery of Rs25 billion in addition to collecting current bills up to June 2019. The company can achieve the target by taking measures for the recovery of old outstanding bills and reducing line losses by up to 1%.
Similarly, the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) will recover an extra Rs2 billion in addition to receiving current bills up to June 2019. It will also reduce line losses by 1%.
Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) will ensure additional recovery of Rs2 billion from the old receivables and bring line losses to the target of 8.65% set by Nepra.
Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) will ensure extra recovery of Rs10.2 billion by reducing line losses to match Nepra's target of 15% and by collecting old receivables.
For Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), the target for extra recovery above the current bills was set at Rs41 billion by reducing line losses to 4% and collecting old receivables.
Pesco will remove illegal connections within a timeframe of two months and the sub-divisional officers (SDOs), executive engineers (XENs) and superintending engineers (SE) concerned will be responsible for this programme.
It was decided that the Pesco CEO would launch an awareness campaign to inform consumers that their wrong bills would be corrected and electricity meters would be installed immediately after the payment of dues. It will also lead to a reduction in load-management hours in their areas.
The power minister directed strictly that no overbilling or unfair means would be adopted for achieving the targets. In this regard, the Power Division and Pepco will establish a comprehensive monitoring mechanism.
"All the CEOs shall personally supervise the drive against theft and shall meet the district administration in this regard," he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2018.
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