Bogus power bills

One does not know where one is being cheated. Officials of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCo) have collected millions of rupees through bogus bills from power consumers. Recently, a parliamentary panel quizzed officers of the IESCo over the corrupt practice going in the company for the past several years. A total of Rs239 million had been embezzled in the past two years as the amount was not deposited in the company’s accounts. The billing department had been defrauding power consumers for years, but neither the company management nor the audit firm was able to unearth the scam.

At a recent hearing, the IESCo CEO told the Senate Standing Committee on Power that through bogus and fake stamp electricity bills, millions of rupees were collected from power consumers. He acknowledged that the scam had been going on unchecked for the past four years, and that some officers of the finance department had been terminated for their involvement in the scam. The CEO claimed that electricity consumers were also involved in the fraud as they were depositing the billed amounts in the Revenue Office-1 with a 30 per cent discount. He said the head of Circle-1 Revenue Office had been found involved in the fraud. The CEO said now the Federal Investigation Agency was investigating the case.

Panel Chairman Fida Muhammad Khan expressed apprehensions that similar corruption might be taking place in other power distribution companies. Senator Nauman Khattak asked the Power Division to instruct all distribution companies to check their records and provide details to the committee. The Power Division secretary said he would give orders to all companies to comply with the instructions. Senator Khattak said installation of AMI meters would not solve the problems of power theft and illegal connections. He emphasised that these problems can be solved by laying aerial bundled cables. Senator Sirajul Haq was in favour of introducing a pre-paid card system as it was successfully working in other countries.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2019.

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