Power defaulters owe Rs244.8b in outstanding bills

10 major electricity distribution companies have made names public

LAHORE: The 10 major electricity distribution companies have published names of 45,914 defaulters with outstanding bills of Rs1 million or more on their websites. The defaulters owe a total of Rs244.79 billion in outstanding dues.

The distribution companies published the names of defaulters on their websites upon directions from the energy ministry. The companies had set April 30 as the deadline for defaulters owing Rs1 million or more to clear their bills. Of those that failed to comply, 4,693 defaulters saw their connections cut, while a majority of the 41,221 defaulting connections appear to be power connections for tube wells.

Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) reported the highest number of total defaulters with 27,042 connections. The total dues collectable by Qesco are in excess of Rs211.33 billion. Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) has a total of 8,219 defaulters with Rs13.34 billion in uncollected dues. Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) has 2,421 defaulters with Rs4.72 billion in outstanding dues, while Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) with 6,494 defaulters had a total of Rs59.29 billion in receivables from defaulters.



Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) with 395 defaulters owing over Rs1 million has to collect Rs730 million in outstanding dues, while Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has 460 customers with Rs1 million or more in dues, with a total collectable amount at Rs3.5 billion.

Multan Electric Supply Company (Mepco) has 324 defaulters with Rs170.13 million in dues, while Gujranwala Electric Supply Company (Gepco) has 30 defaulters with Rs166.2 million in dues. Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has 30 defaulters with outstanding dues of over Rs1 million, with total outstanding dues of Rs107.1 million.

Federal Energy Secretary Irfan Ali told The Express Tribune that the names of the defaulters are not published with the intent of humiliating them. The names, he said, were published to persuade the defaulters to pay their dues and fulfil their responsibility to the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2019.

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