Consumers receive inflated gas bills

PTI govt has directed utility firms to provide maximum relief as country fights against Covid-19

KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) has sent inflated bills to residential and industrial customers against the government directives for utility firms to provide maximum relief to people at a time when the country is fighting against the coronavirus pandemic.

The Karachi-based utility firm - which provides gas to nearly three million households, industrial and commercial customers through pipeline connections in the province of Sindh and Balochistan - has charged a higher tariff through sending a combined bill for two months (April and May).

The utility firm charged the lowest tariff for the first 50 units per month and charged higher tariffs on the utilisation of over 50 units. In total, it has six slabs like up to 50 units, up to 100 units, up to 200 units, up to 300 units, up to 400 units and over 400 units. Therefore, the tariff increases with consumption.

Residents said they visited SSGC customer facilitation centres (CFCs) to get their bills corrected. However, the centres were found closed as the utility firm kept face-to-face public dealing over the counters suspended to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Hence, the residents said they would not pay the bills until they are corrected.

To recall, the federal and provincial governments have asked all the utility firms to facilitate people through making multiple instalments of bills if they cannot defer the full payment for a couple of months.

The government directed the firms in the backdrop of reduction in the public’s income under the lockdown imposed to contain the disease. Besides, the income of a segment of the society; better known as daily wage earners like construction labour, cobblers, barbers, plumbers, electricians and cab drivers had dropped almost next to nil.

A critic flayed the utility firm for the irresponsible act of sending inflated bills. This would multiply problems mostly of those people living below the poverty line.

He recalled the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement describing four out of every 10 people are living below the poverty line, while one-fourth of the population cannot afford two meals a day. “This is the reason why the government has taken a tough decision to ease lockdown and resume business and economic activities despite the infection cases being on the rise,” he said.

SITE Association of Industry (SAI) Patron Zubair Motiwala said the utility firms had dispatched inflated bills to industries in the previous month. However, the firm has adjusted the previously received higher charges in the latest bill.

“SSGC had not sent a combined bill for two months to industries in SITE, but had charged much higher bill as compared to our lesser consumption of gas,” he said.

SSGC version

Commenting on the situation, SSGC said that customers were provisionally billed based on their consumption pattern since meter reading was not possible given the current pandemic situation.

“Provisional bill will automatically be adjusted next month when SSGC obtains actual meter readings,” SSGC said in a reply to a question.

“Where actual reading is taken after provisional bills, the consumption volume is distributed equally between several months for application of tariff, so there will be no higher tariff,” it said.

So far, three SSGC zonal billing offices and customer facilitation centres (CFCs) have reopened and are working as per the government’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). “All the remaining CFCs will be operational by June 8, 2020,” it said.

“The gas bills recovery has been badly affected,” it lamented.

The utility firm is facing shortage worth billions of rupees in sale revenue since its recovery of billing has remained poor. Therefore, it has applied for an increase in tariffs for the second time in FY20. The government maintained its decision of putting an increase in the tariff on hold until a favourable time to do so and now Covid-19 has upset domestic consumers, business and the overall economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2020.

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