Electricity consumers complain of over-billing in Karachi

As Karachi's summer temperatures soar, residents are complaining about the added hardship of inflated power bills from K-Electric, the port city's power utility company.

Electricty consumption in Karachi peaks during summer as people increase the use of airconditioners to endure the hot and humid weather.

Many people recently took to social media to express concern about the affordability of electricity due to rising inflation in the country and its economic situation.

A Karachi resident, voicing his frustration over the drastic hike in power prices, shared his K-Electric bill for June on Facebook.

His post read, "Overcharging and frequent power outages have made our lives unbearable."

The user said Karachi being the largest city "deserves reliable and fair power services."

Another businessman from Karachi, shared a portion of his electricity bill, that showed an amount of more than Rs 2.9 million for the month on July. He captioned the photo, "Impossible to run an industry with such electric bills."

Other residents are also comparing previous K-Electric bills and noting drastic hikes for the same units.

One citizen dissected his recent bills and pointed at how just within a month he saw a staggering hike in rates, he wrote, "Same unit 256 as May 2024 but the bill is 12500 in June #KElectricMafia #KElectric"

Senior Pakistani actor Rashid Mehmood had also recently expressed deep frustration upon receiving an electricity bill amounting to Rs45,000, stating he feels he was born in the wrong country.

A video of Rashid Mehmood displaying his house's electricity bill went viral on social media. He revealed that after consuming 701 units, he was slapped with a massive bill.

Mehmood, who has survived four heart attacks, questioned why Allah spared his life, lamenting, "Was I kept alive just to endure this?"

He expressed dismay at his inability to find work as an actor in Lahore for a considerable time, making it difficult for him to pay such a hefty bill.

Amid the rising temperatures, consumers have raised concerns about the impact of loadhshedding on Karachi residents, noting that hospitals in the city have declared emergencies with 4,000 heatstroke patients admitted to 10 hospitals and 427 bodies reported by Edhi.

Imran Shahid, a consumer, criticised K-Electric for prolonged power outages, saying, “K-Electric is violating human rights and not adhering to NEPRA's rules, operating like a state within a state.”

He warned that Karachi residents are extremely angry about the power load-shedding and urged NEPRA to take immediate notice of the situation before it deteriorates further.