Government entities owe PESCO Rs7b

PEDO, police among major defaulters

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (PESCO) on Monday revealed that government departments in the province owed over seven billion rupees in unpaid electricity bills.

An official document of PESCO available with this news agency revealed that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) and police were the major defaulters of the company who had to pay Rs3494.41 million and Rs429.25 million under the head of electricity bills, respectively.

Similarly, Deputy District Officer WS&S Haripur was defaulter of Rs215.37 million, TMA Town-I Peshawar (Streetlight) Rs202.37 million, Irrigation and Power department Rs175.88 million, TMA Town-I Peshawar (Tube-well) Rs142.52 million, TMA Haripur(Tube-well) Rs136.80 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Peshawar Rs125.79 million, Jail and Convict Settlement Rs107.52 million and Town-III Peshawar (Streetlight) Rs103.28 million.

The Deputy District Officer WS&S DI Khan Rs91.12 million, TMA Kohat (Tube-well) Rs83.59 million, Union Councils Rs74.41 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Tank Rs71.53 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Lakki Marwat Rs65.25 million, TMA DI Khan (streetlight) Rs64.98 million, TMA Tank-I (Tube-well) Rs64.15 million, TMA Town-III Peshawar (Tube-well) Rs56.05 million, Other hospitals Swabi Rs54.34 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Kohat Rs53.37 million.

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The Works and Services department Rs50.31 million, Health Rs50.02 million, TMA Lakki Marwat (Tube-well)  Rs49.96 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Bannu Rs49.34 million, Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) Rs48.57 million, Deputy District Officer (WS&S) Buner Rs47.36 million, Kohat Development Authority (KDA) Rs45.96 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Karak Rs45.33 million, Government Primary School (male) Peshawar Rs38.30 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Nowshera Rs36.92 million, Deputy District Officer WS&S Swabi Rs35.32 million TMA Lachi (Tube-well) Rs34.23 million Government Primary School (male)Tank Rs27.42 million and Deputy District Officer WS&S Abbottabad Rs26.58 million.

PESCO has written a letter to all the defaulter departments to clear their outstanding dues in the larger national interest and warned that their electricity supply would be disconnected otherwise.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2023.