DISCOs send estimated bills to consumers: PAC

Asks HESCO to make full recoveries by June

ISLAMABAD:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said that power distribution companies (Discos) often send bills to households on an estimated accumulated bill.

According to the Express News, the committee, which met under the chairmanship of convener Syed Naveed Qamar, reviewed the audit objections of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) for the year 2017-18.

The audit officials briefed the meeting about non-recovery of arrears by the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) from non-paying consumers.

The energy secretary informed the committee that Hesco had made 74 per cent recoveries. On being asked, the Hesco CEO maintained that they would try to make full recoveries by December.

The committee convener sought the latest statistics and asked Hesco to make full recoveries by June.

Read Improving power DISCOs’ performance

Responding to committee member Syed Hussain Tariq, the Hesco officials said that Rs10 billion had been allocated for improvement and maintenance of the system in the electric supply company.

Tariq recalled that earlier people would get the transformers repaired after a fault occurred in them, adding that now that system had been abolished.

The committee convener regretted that transformer blasts had become a routine. He called for a policy in this regard, saying private workshops should be allowed to repair transformers after certification.

He said the billing system of Discos was faulty. Discos often send bills to households on an estimated basis, he noted, adding that the practice adopted by the power distribution companies badly affected the budget of the common man.